A Castle of Ice
by atinaej
Summary: Bella fails to save Edward and is taken in by the Volturi. Aro finds her interesting, but Caius can't stand the power a human has over him.
1. The end

**Twilight and all its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, and that won't change. I know I can forget about the disclaimers, but I know that I will never be able to pretend that the characters are mine. I just play with them.**

**Be warned, this is a M rated Caius/Bella story, and if you hate the idea you're allowed to do so. I just wanted everything to be clear before starting.**

**Jeanita**

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_*Bella's POV*_

_I knew I was too late when I saw the cloaked figures emerge from the shadows. They were grey unlike the red mass of people around them. I ran faster._

"_Edward!"_

_He finally heard me; his expression was both sad and confused at the same time. He looked around himself and saw the vampires that slowly walked towards him._

_Then his lips moved, as if he wanted to tell me something, and a huge smile lit up his face right before he was completely surrounded by the grey cloaks. _

_I blinked._

_Then they were all gone. _

_I fell to the ground. Then everything went black._

**Caius**

"_This_ is the girl?"

I looked towards my confused brothers. They weren't my brother's in blood, but in venom. In the way we ruled the supernatural world and had done so the last few millennia.

Aro nodded.

"Can someone tell me what she's doing in one of our guest bedrooms?"

A brunette was lying on top of the covers, still fully dressed and with a peaceful expression on her face. Maybe she was sleeping? Afton had heard her yelling, and then he had found her collapsed on the ground. He had lifted her up and taken her back to the castle.

I didn't like the fact that there was more humans here than the receptionist and our public relations girl. I didn't really see the point about having someone to deal with public relations either, but if tourists were to keep travelling to Volterra, we had to make sure that we advertised the right way.

"She's sleeping." Aro said after a long while.

I raised my eyebrow.

"I can see that. I wondered why she's alive. Why you haven't let someone drain her yet."

Aro looked a little guilty and Marcus took the word.

"Because she's spiked his interest. Apparently he can't read her mind, not while she is sleeping anyway."

He added the last part of the sentence as Aro gave him an angry look.

I knew Aro had tested his ability on both people who were awake and people who were sleeping. He's never had this problem before. If he couldn't read the mind of this girl there was nothing I could do to hurry the process.

Aro was the great leader of the vampire society, even though I had power, I could never overrule his decisions. I should feel lucky that I was important enough to stay with him and Marcus. Aro had been roaming alone when he had found me, he had no recollection of the life before becoming a vampire, but he knew that he wanted to be the one to control vampires.

His sister, Didyme, had gotten the power of happiness, something Aro hadn't found useful only interesting. So he decided to go looking for powers.

But he had been a little disappointed when I never got a power. He had thought that all vampires got something special, and when he turned me he was proven wrong. So he had tried again. This time with Marcus. And Marcus could feel the bonds of relationships. Something that made him extremely useful in battle.

I had expected that they would kick me out sooner or later, but Marcus hadn't been the person Aro expected him to be. He had fallen in love with Didyme, and they had planned to run away together. I had never regretted telling Aro about that, but Marcus had never been the same again.

"What about the vampire who brought her here?" I said to avoid memory lane.

There was no denying it, we could smell that the girl had spent a lot of time with a vampire. Her clothes also smelled faintly of an animal, but that wasn't really important. Her blood on the other hand. Mouthwatering.

"Alice." Aro said with compassion and yanked me out of my trance. "She left shortly after realizing that we had captured the human."

I knew he would have wanted her to stay. If this human knew about her true identity and Alice had known, Aro would have had the best reason to capture Alice as well. Something he had wished to do for a long time.

"So she knew that she had done something illegal." I stated.

Aro nodded.

"Though somehow I hope the one we killed is the one to blame."

He hadn't wanted to kill the mind reader, but he had done what he had to do. The idiot had tried to expose us to the humans, and therefore he had to die. But Aro didn't want to kill both of the gifted Cullen's. He still hoped that he would be able to get the psychic to join us.

"How long has she slept?" I asked.

"An hour or so; she should be awake soon I guess. Listen to her heart."

I did. The soft, thudding sound made my moth produce a lot of venom and I could only think about how much I wanted to drink her blood. I reached out and grabbed Aro's hand to show him.

"I know, dear brother. Her blood smells better than almost anything I have smelled the past couple of thousand years. This is what Edward was showing me. How her blood sang to him." he looked up at me.

"Almost the same way it sings to you."

I looked at my brother with questioning eyes.

"You my friend are more civil than most vampires, but the way your thoughts reacted to the blood.. It might be because Edward was a vegetarian.." he kept talking, mostly to himself.

There was no way her blood could sing to me the same way it had sung to him. I was Caius, one of the three Volturi brothers', I could not be distracted by a plain human.

As I thought this she turned her head a bit, and her neck was exposed. I felt a strong desire to bite, to suck her sweet blood. I shook my head and turned around.

"She's almost awake. You should get this over with so we can continue like normal."

Aro laid a hand on her arm; the cold touch should be enough to wake her up now. He frowned. This wasn't good, if he still couldn't see what she was thinking.. I sighed. I was concerned that this might mean that he would keep her for a longer time so that he could figure out if she had some sort of power.

The human stirred and opened her eyes.

"Where am I?" she asked as she sat up and looked around.

Her heart was hammering so hard, and the scent of her blood almost saturated the entire room. I tried holding my breath, Aro would not like it if I killed her.

"Dear Bella," Aro began, he had clearly memorized her name after reading the mind reader's thoughts. "you are in Volterra. In our castle."

"Who are you? Why am I here?"

Tears welled up in her eyes. Humans were so frail, so pathetic.

"I am Aro and these are my brothers, Caius and Marcus."

He had avoided answering the last question. Aro took her hand in his, a last attempt to read her thoughts.

"Don't be afraid, little one. We won't harm you."

'_Yet'_ I added silently. There was no way we would keep her, was there?

"Why am I here? Where is Edward?" she was almost hysterical.

"You fainted outside, Bella. We brought you in so you could rest."

She got up from the bed quickly.

"Thank you for taking care of me, but please tell me where I can find Edward."

I folded my arms over my chest. This human would definitely demand more attention than I was willing to give her.

"I'm sorry, dear." Aro answered. "Edward was about to show himself in front of all those humans, I'm sure you'll understand that we only did what we had to do."

Her eyes flickered from one to the other.

"Where is he?" she whispered.

"He's dead." I answered, tired of her already.

She stood there and just looked at me like a dumb donkey for a while before falling to her knees. Aro gave me a look that told me he was disapproving of my honesty. I couldn't care less. The sooner we were finished with this human, the better.

"This is not happening." She whispered.

"I'm sorry." Aro said. "He believed you had killed yourself, he only wanted to be with you."

"But I never killed myself. I just wanted to see him." she whispered.

"I'm sorry." Aro said again.

Then the horrible sobbing started.

I rolled my eyes. Humans should be the ones to accept that life was short and that love was fleeting. After all, they were the ones that experienced things like that.

"And Alice?" she managed to ask between sobs.

"She is gone, I'm afraid. She has returned to America." Aro said in a soft voice.

The human nodded and looked like she understood the reason why.

"And what's going to happen with me?" She suddenly asked.

I looked at Aro, his eyes were fixed on the girl. Marcus looked the other way, and I couldn't really blame him. He had always been the emotional one, and he knew how it felt to lose the one you loved.

But no one answered the girl. And she was shaking between sobs.

I walked out into the hallway; surely I wasn't needed inside that room anymore. Aro would just get mad if I continued to speak my mind anyway.

A distraction was what I needed. I had to find Athenodora.

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**This is a side project. My main fic is Changes, and soon the sequel of Changes (title TBA), so I don't know how often I'll be able to update, but I hope Paola-Bearrr or MaitresseSaint will tell me when I've too late on my updates. **

**They probably will.**

**I'm also extremely grateful for their support on this story. *Bows* You two have made it so much easier for me to write it. **

**And I will be grateful for reviews. **

**Jeanita**


	2. The brothers

**The response to the first chapter was amazing! I had never expected to see that since this is a Caius/Bella story, but I appreciate every kind word, every subscriber and everyone who already thinks that this could be a favorite. *Bows***

**Here's the next chapter. Enjoy.**

**Jeanita**

Athenodora was lying on the bed as I got dressed. She looked bored. To be honest, I was bored too. Routine. Hadn't really been that great to begin with, and as the centuries went by she had become nothing else than a distraction. A few minutes of satisfying myself so that I could think about something else.

She knew that I had had others on the side. Nomads that were traveling through, exceptionally beautiful humans if Heidi brought some. I knew that she could smell it on me, but she was too consumed by the power she had as my wife to leave me. She would rather just be a toy as long as she got to go to the fancy parties and being one of the two vampire queens.

She flipped slowly through the pages of a French magazine. I had never understood her sense of fashion, she rarely wore anything else than the old overdone dresses. I was tired of them too. Some of them even made her look like a balloon. And her hair was always done in the same way.

I looked through the big walk in closet in our room. Though I was always expected to wear the cloak when we were expecting company I often had days off. This was one of those days. Matter of fact I had a whole week of these days because of our bothersome human. Aro had decided that we were to check in on her. It made me furious. Why couldn't the guard to that? Wasn't that why we kept them around? So that they could do all the things we didn't want to?

I took a pair of dark jeans and a knitted turtleneck sweater. The sweater was one of the tight fitting ones, but I knew that I didn't have to worry about my looks. I didn't bother to do anything with my hair. There were days I put it in a rubber band, but if I was going to spend more than ten seconds with the human I wanted to look like a vampire. I wanted her to know where her place was.

I put on my shoes and died my laces before opening the door.

"Have a nice day." Athenodora said with a stiff voice.

It sounded like the way a receptionist would talk to her boss' clients after a meeting. I closed the door behind me and hurried down the corridor. Marcus would almost certainly be in the throne room, so I went there first. He was sitting in his chair, with the same depressed expression as always.

He wasn't in his cloak either; none of us used it unless we needed to. Marcus was wearing a black suit, with a black shirt and a black tie. His hair was combed back.

"Brother." I greeted him.

"Caius." He nodded.

"Do you know where Aro is?" I asked him.

Interrupting him and Sulpicia was never a good idea, so I usually asked Marcus. He tended to know everything in this castle.

"Already with the human. He took Jane and Alec."

Marcus stood up and walked over to me.

"He asked me to bring you when you got up."

I sighed. If he had brought the twins it meant that he still hadn't gotten an access to her mind. So he wanted to see if the infants could use their abilities on her.

For a second I felt angry. Aro should just let this go. So what if he couldn't read her mind. It wasn't like she would agree to work for him if she turned out to be useful. He had killed her love, so there was a big chance that she would refuse to lend her services to the guard.

That is if Chelsea couldn't get to her either. If she could forge a fake band between us and the human it could work, but if she had a closed mind it would be a hopeless cause. Like attacking Renata with your bare hands.

Marcus led the way down to the guest bedroom where the human was staying. He didn't say anything, so I didn't want to force him to talk. If there really was something like an eternal bond between vampires Marcus and Didyme had shared one. Over a thousand years had passed, and he was still mourning his loss.

I knew I wouldn't spend a minute of grieving Athenodora if her time came. Aro had found her and given her to me because of her beauty, but she was no companion in any other way than in the bed once and a while. She was the most boring vampire I had ever met.

I shook my head. She was a vampire queen, for now at least, and I ought to think of her with respect.

We were 10 meters from the room and I could already smell her blood. I had to swallow quite a bit of venom. I couldn't see the reason for Aro to keep such a treat alive. Had it been me..

The door flew open and Jane suddenly stood in front of me.

"You're late." She said with an accusing voice.

"No I'm not." I said as I walked right by her.

Aro had been keeping the weirdest collectables through the years, but Jane had to be the most annoying one. Her angelic face was always tight and angry, and she always said whatever she wanted. She was Aro's little pet, and therefore she could get away with everything.

I hated that.

Alec wasn't as lucky, but as long as he had his sister to stand up for him he could do what he wanted to. But that didn't happen too often either. Alec's power had almost exceeded Jane's now, and Aro was growing fonder of the boy every day. In the beginning Alec had only been able to leave a person completely sensory deprived at the time. But as he practiced his powers he was able to make more and more people experience the total darkness at once.

Jane hadn't been as lucky. Her power seemed to be fully developed and she could still make only one vampire, or human, feel her burning gaze.

Aro was sitting on a chair as far away from the human as he could. Alec was standing by the door. The girl was curled up on the bed, making horrible half-chocked sounds. She was crying again. I rolled my eyes. Why hadn't Aro done anything yet?

"She won't talk to us." He said as quietly as he could. "She refuses to give us any answers, and she hasn't even looked up since the twins entered the room."

Aro had one foot slung casually over the other and was tapping his cane on the floor. I didn't see the point in carrying it around whenever he decided to wear a suit, but if it gave him a kick, why not?

"Why haven't you just let them try their powers on her anyway?" I asked in an equal voice.

Their powers didn't require eye-contact. So it should have been easy to test the human's mind.

Aro looked up at me with a new glow in his eyes.

"I have." He smiled. "And nothing happened."

I felt my hope shrink and vanish. The girl would stay.

I felt like kicking or breaking something. There was no way he could let her stay! She was a mere human, a pathetic, idiotic creature with no skills to fend for herself. She should be fair game.

"Are you planning on changing her?" I asked.

I needed to know what Aro was planning, and if I didn't agree I would have to make him see reason.

Aro shook his head slowly.

"Not yet. She's not done mourning the loss of her love. I want her to want to become a part of the guard. Or else she'll just run back to the Cullen's the minute she become immortal."

"Why can't you just get Chelsea to take care of it? She can sewer whatever ties she has to the dead vampire and make new ones to us. Your way could take months, even years."

My voice was higher now, but still too low for the human to notice. Aro looked up at me with impatient eyes.

"If mine, Jane and Alec's powers failed to affect her I doubt Chelsea would be able to do anything. But she is summoned to give it a try. Though I doubt it will work." He looked down as he finished his sentence.

"So we're going to keep a _human_ in the castle?" I didn't care if the words came out covered in venom.

Aro nodded.

"We don't have a choice. I want her as a permanent member of the guard, so I can't see any other options."

His tone told me that there was no way I could talk him out of this. He had found himself another pretty collectable, and he was set on making her a permanent piece on his shelf.

"And just imagine how beautiful she'll be when she has gone through the change."

He looked at her with more affection than he even gave Jane and I heard a growl behind me. Aro just ignored it, something he wouldn't have done if he hadn't been so fascinated with the human.

"She is still a human." I said. "And she might not have any useable power. It might just be a personal shield."

He looked at me with questioning eyes.

"But imagine how great she would be in battle. Even if she was the only one functioning she would still have a chance at taking out the gifted ones."

His eyes were fixed on something I couldn't see. He was probably dreaming about the new addition to the guard already.

I sighed.

"As long as you agree to let the guard do the babysitting."

I turned around and headed for the door.

"How can you even think that, my brother? She has to be safe, and I only trust my beloved brothers with that task."

"No." I said.

He was suddenly standing in front of me.

"Are you going against my wishes, brother?"

His voice was hard, and his eyes were murderous.

"I won't degrade myself to babysit a human. She's not mine."

I heard Marcus clearing his throat behind me, and we both turned to face him as he spoke.

"Actually," he started as he cast a glance to the human. "You are the one with the strongest bond to her. So if she is supposed t belong to someone, I guess that someone is you."

He couldn't be serious. I looked to see if Aro was in on the joke, but his face was even more enraged than mine.

"What are you saying, Marcus?"

"I'm not saying that she belongs to someone, but her strongest bond is with Caius. I don't know why."

I had never experienced Marcus trying to be funny before, but I guessed he would have had a little more emotion than this. He seemed indifferent to the whole thing.

I looked at the human curled up in fetal position on the bed. Her hair was beginning to get greasy, her clothes were a mess and she looked dirty. I frowned.

Aro looked at me with the same mix of anger and disappointment for a couple of seconds, but he quickly lightened again.

"So it's set. You_ will_ help out, and you _will _talk to the girl."

He turned to Marcus again.

"Is there a possibility that we can make than bond stronger?"

Marcus shrugged.

"I have no idea. She is something special that girl, but if Caius could get closer to her.."

They were soon in deep conversation, and although I was the topic I didn't really feel like participating. They could decide whatever they wanted, there was no way I was spending more time than absolutely necessary with the girl.

I stormed out of the room, something that was going to become a habit if Aro kept this up, and walked over to the library. I sat down in one of the large leather chairs and stared directly out in the room. The large bookshelves were always filled with the newest books and research papers, but I didn't bother to look for something to read today.

I heard Athenodora walk in through the other door, you recognize the footsteps of someone you spent so much time with. She walked over to my chair and placed her hands on my shoulders.

"Is something wrong, my love?" she asked.

It was still the same impersonal voice.

"No." I answered.

"You seem a little tense." She let her hands glide down my sweater. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"You can leave me alone." I answered in an equally impersonal and cold voice.

Her hands were gone in less than a second.

"Fine." She growled. "You really haven't done anything except moping the last centuries. You really shouldn't complain so much about Marcus' behavior."

I didn't bother to answer her, she was only afraid that she might lose her throne if I got tired of her. Nothing to worry about at all.

I suddenly remembered what Aro had called Bella when he read Edward's mind. _La Tua Cantante_. The singer. I had not read about it yet, but since he had said that she smelled sweeter to me than to him I had to assume that she was my singer too. I didn't like that thought, but I hurried over to the books written by our kind.

Of course there was no book marked with "Singers" or "La Tua Cantante", so I scanned the bookshelves for something that could have the information I needed.

Too bad no one had thought of making a vampire lexicon, with all the facts we needed to know. I knew I could always go and see Aro to get the information I needed, but I also knew that I wouldn't be interested in the trade he would offer me.

I took an old dusty book out of the shelves, one written by Aro himself. It looked more promising than any of the other books, so I opened it. Of course it was too old to have registry pages and a list of the contents, everything was hand written in Aro's elegant writing.

I skimmed through the pages to see if there was any information about the phenomenon Aro had described.

'La Tua Cantante'

A human who's blood smells so much better than anything you have experienced before.

I raised my eyebrow. There was nothing wrong about the description, just that it left out all important information. Aro had clearly invented the expression himself, which meant that what he had said might mean nothing.

I couldn't help feeling a little relieved at the discovery. If there had been something behind his words I would have had a reason to worry. If this human was as irresistible as he had made her seem..

I heard someone out in the hallway and I quickly put the book up on the shelf where it belonged. It was Felix and Demetri. They hadn't sensed my presence yet, and they were talking loud enough for me to hear them.

"Aro is keeping a new pet." Felix said.

"I know. Have you noticed how the entire castle smells of her blood? I wonder how he found her." Demetri answered.

"I have been wondering the same. But the rumor has it that she was the human that Cullen kid was together with. She supposedly came to save him from killing himself."

Demetri laughed.

"She was late. Aro had decided to kill him regardless his suicide attempt I heard. Chelsea failed to get the Cullen to feel bonded to the Volturi. Apparently he was too tied to the human."

I raised my eyebrows. Those two morons had no idea what they were talking about. Aro wouldn't have killed Edward as long as he had a chance of getting him into the guard. Something he couldn't do as long as he now was vampire dust.

I sat down in one of the chairs and put one foot over the other. I had enough training in looking dangerous and relaxed at the same time, so their gasps were as shocked as I had expected them to be.

"You have better things to do than go around gossiping like teenage girls." I said coolly.

"Yes, Master." They answered in unison.

"And I really think you should verify the information you spread. Like what you just said about your master, Aro."

They looked guilty and I knew I had poked the right spot.

"Please don't tell Master Aro about this." Demetri begged.

"And why shouldn't I? Do you think Aro wants vampires who disrespect him in his guard? Well, he might want to keep Demetri, but I'm sure he'll find a replacement for you." I nodded towards Felix.

I knew that Aro would let them off with a warning, so all I could do was scare them.

"Maybe you can keep me updated on the gossip in the castle?" I asked. "Then I might consider keeping this a secret."

I let my eyes glide from one to the other. Their expressions were shocked.

"I mean, so many things are being said, but so few of them are true. I would like to know everything you pick up."

The truth was that I wasn't too sure about Aro's intentions with the human girl. Something was wrong, I just knew it. Especially after the whole "La Tua Cantante" thing.

The two guards looked at each other, they were both clearly confused.

"Sure." Demetri said when he realized that I was serious.

Felix just nodded.

"Good." I said, and waived then off with my hand.

They bowed, backed out of the room and speed down the hallway.

**Eagerly awaiting your thoughts on the chapter.**

**Jeanita**


	3. The brilliant idea

**Changes is giving me a hard time these days, but I hope you enjoy this chapter of A Castle of Ice while you wait. I will try to update Changes asap, and I won't start another chapter of A Castle of Ice before I finish the last chapter of Changes. **

**SO I'll have to be quick, won't I?**

**Enjoy!**

**Jeanita**

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I hated to have to do this. Babysitting is not my favorite thing.

I sat on the big chair Aro had placed by the window. The human, who he had told me to call Bella, was sitting on the big bed. Even though Aro had gone to the extremes to make her feel comfortable, she still looked like she wanted to jump out the window.

Aro had gotten Chelsea to shower her and give her new clothes. Her long hair had been curled and the deep blue dress had almost made Demetri's eyes fall out of his head. But she seemed oblivious to her appearance.

She should feel honored to be able to stay at our guest room. And she should definitely feel honored to have me sitting here with her.

She looked like she'd rather be dead. Something I would be more than happy to arrange for her. Her presence seemed to pollute the minds of everyone, but she didn't even notice it.

Jane was furious, the thought of Aro getting a new favorite was more than she was willing to face. Alec was troubled by her as well; he was in a constant symbiosis with his sister. Marcus was reminded of his lost love when he looked at her, and he wanted her happy. Aro was so set on making her a permanent member of the guard that he had given up on even trying to listen to me.

And here I was.

I had not been given any choice; Aro had just demanded that I sat here for the next eight hours. The only time I would get to see other vampires was when someone came to give her food, or lead her to the bathroom. I was glad Aro had decided that _that_ was a servant's job.

"You're one of the brothers?" She asked. "The one named Caius?"

I nodded sharply. Aro had told me to be polite, but I didn't want her to think that I would have an actual conversation with a human.

"Where is Marcus?" She asked.

I didn't answer. I didn't even shrug.

He had spent eight hours with her the night before, and I could hear from her voice that she liked him. I could understand why, she reminded him of him, and he would try to mend her the way he could never mend himself.

"Am I some kind of shift-work now?" She asked.

I ignored that question as well.

"When are you going to let me go home?" She asked me after another five minutes of silence.

Aro had said I shouldn't answer questions about her future as long as he was out of the room. I was not happy with that either. I had looked forward to the idea of psychologically torment her, but that was out of the question now. I remained silent.

"Answer me!" She suddenly yelled. "I need to know when I can go home! My father is worried!"

I folded my hands over my chest and let my eyes meet hers. I tried staring her down, putting all my force into my eyes. She didn't move an inch. She just looked at me with equally angry eyes.

But a human has to blink, and when she did I used the advantage to move and appear behind the bed instead.

She gasped.

"You will remember who you talk to." I said in a cold voice. "I am not like Marcus and Aro. I do not like you. If it were up to me you would be lying lifeless on the floor by now. Where you belong."

I moved away before she had time to turn her head.

"You're just a human. A plain, boring, bothersome human." I spat the words out with a mouthful of venom. "I don't see why I should have to entertain you."

"So why don't you just leave?" She asked angrily.

"Because Aro is my superior, like I am yours. His word is my command, and if he wants me to sit here for a few hours I obey."

I glided back to the chair and sat back down in a spit second when she was searching for me.

"Now, shut up and go back to whatever you were doing before. Your father will just have to wait."

Her head twirled once more and she seemed more scared than angry now. Good, my goal had been achieved. Her eyes were tearing up, and I knew Aro would be angry with me. But it was all worth seeing her tears run down her cheeks.

"Why are you doing this?" she whispered.

"I'm not the one to ask, Aro is the one keeping you here." I answered. "And I will leave his intentions for him to explain."

He would hate me for saying this, but I would do anything to keep her from wanting to stay here. She was _not_ one of us.

She was quiet for a long time, not even looking at me. I leaned back and tried to think about other things to make time pass by more quickly. I thought about the meal Heidi would bring later today. I thought about the Cullen's, and wondered if they would come back to claim the human. I wondered what Aro would say if they did.

He would not give this human up easily.

"Are you going to kill me?" She asked in a shaky voice.

"Depends on how you look at it." I answered.

"What do you mean?"

I smiled a stiff smile.

"Did they tell you about the rules? No human can know about us."

She nodded.

"That includes you I'm afraid. You either have to die.."

She tried holding back a sob.

"..or become one of us. Depends on what you and Aro decide."

She swallowed loudly and her heart was hammering.

"But personally you want me dead on the floor?" She asked.

"I have no specifics on the where part, just the dead part." I said while pretending I was busy looking at my nails.

"Would Aro let me go home if I become a vampire?" She asked.

I had already told her more than I was allowed to, but I decided that punishment would be punishment no matter how hard. Aro couldn't kill me without digging a hole for himself.

"I guess not. What is there to go home to when you can't see your family?" I asked. "It's not like you're going to turn daddy dearest into a vampire as well. Not as a newborn anyway."

"I have other family members."

"You mean the Cullen's? They can come claim you if they really want you. If they leave you here it basically means that they're not going to change you."

Her face whitened.

"Alice had her reasons."

I shrugged.

"I don't care about her reasons. She left the minute she understood what had happened, and they haven't contacted us yet."

"Maybe that's not so weird considering how you killed one of the members of their family?" she said with a sarcastic voice.

I gave her a glare, and she quickly looked away.

"He was trying to kill himself, and I have to say that he was pretty successful, don't you think? Carlisle had told him the rules after all, and he clearly had a plan. Stepping out in the sunlight would have started a series of events we don't even want to think about."

So members of the guard had been sent out to kill him. To make sure he died. To take his parts out of the city and set fire to them. To stay and wait till the flames was nothing more than purple smoke.

Bella had been unconscious for most of the process. Something Aro thought was for the best. She wouldn't recall the metallic sound when his body was ripped apart. She wouldn't have been able to see them escape with his still twitching body-parts.

I mentally shook my head. What was I thinking? Wouldn't I have been happier if she had seen them kill him? That would have made things easier, she wouldn't have wanted to stay here a second. She would had begged for us to kill her, like she should have from the very start.

"They will come." She said with a confident voice.

"They might not."

"They owe me to come back for me."

"They might think you're dead."

Her eyes blazed with anger.

"You might want to tell them that I'm alive."

"Why should I? What does that get me?" I asked with a smile.

"I'll be gone, and you can go back to your lives."

"Sooner or later we will, with you here or not. But I doubt Aro would call the Cullen's to tell them to pick you up. And even if he did, they would be too terrified about the possible punishment for keeping a human at their side without intentions of changing her."

"Aro wouldn't hurt Carlisle."

I couldn't believe that this human actually tried arguing with me.

"Maybe not, he was a part of our entourage for a long time, but the rest of his family does not have the same immunity."

I heard her heart skip a beat and continue in double speed.

"You wouldn't.." her voice trailed off.

"Wouldn't what? It's not the first time we have taken down a coven. And that's what it is. A coven. But the psychic would get a chance to stay as a member of the guard. Maybe the insanely strong one as well."

She stopped crying.

"You're monsters!" she yelled.

"You haven't understood that yet? We're vampires. A completely different race. We don't have the same rules you have. You call killing innocent people murder; we call it survival of the strongest. You're on our food chain, like cows are on yours."

I thought it was a pretty good comparison, but clearly she didn't.

"You can survive on the blood of animals. The Cullen's are doing that."

"And you can survive on tofu. What's the difference? And don't try to tell me you're a vegan, because I can smell that you're not."

"People have thoughts, feelings, and families!"

"So you mean that animals have no feelings? That they can't feel pain and fright? That they don't have a desire to make sure that their offspring gets a head start in life? You really are an oblivious human!"

She looked down.

"We don't lock people up in large buildings and feed them whatever we want to make sure that they taste right. We don't force them to mate. We could have told them about ourselves, but we let them remain in their safe little bubble. That's more than I can say for your race." I felt the anger growing.

"And on top of that you kill each other, you murder each other and you rape each other. I would have to say that humans are as cruel to their own race as we are, except for that we kill to feed. Humans seems to do it for fun."

Her heart was beating harder and faster.

"Don't worry. I am in no position to harm you, so you should be safe. For now."

I heard the footsteps long before they reached the door. The haste told me that something had happened, and that I would be rescued from this horrible place.

The vampire opened the door as he knocked. My dear brother Marcus came in.

"You're wanted in the throne room."

Had Aro already gotten the word that I was arguing with the human? I hadn't expected the scolding until he was done taking his turn in this room. But the sooner the better.

I got up and walked over to the door.

"You're just going to leave me here?" the girl asked.

"No." Marcus answered. "Aro's wife, Sulpicia, will be here soon."

I looked at him. Had dear, old Sully volunteered? That couldn't be the case. Aro and Supicia had a better relationship than me and Athenodora, but Sulpicia was a vampire queen. And Aro's wife. She shouldn't have to do this.

Marcus cleared his throat to tell me that I was too slow and I sped up so that I could keep up with him.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

I suddenly doubted that this was about me.

"He got a call from Carlisle."

There was no sound except from the echo my steps made in the stone hallway.

Did the Cullen's think they could just break the rules and then expect us to give the human back unharmed? No. I wouldn't let that happen. The Cullen's had left her here, on our territory. Marcus' expression was a reflection of my own, he didn't like this either.

We walked into the throne room. Aro was completely alone, something that didn't happen often. Even Renata and Sulpicia seemed to be banished.

"The Cullen's called?" I asked.

"Yes." He said with a grim expression in his face. "They wanted to come and get the girl. Carlisle even said he'd come alone. I told him not to bother."

I knew he could see my surprise, so I didn't ask more questions.

"When they had left a human with knowledge in our city they couldn't really expect us to let her go. I told them that we would give her the choice between life as a vampire or death. Carlisle didn't like that."

"Do you think they'll come to Italy?" Marcus suddenly asked.

"They might. But they might also bring someone else with them." He almost growled the last words.

"Who?" I asked. "The Denali's?"

"No. The Denali's swore that they wouldn't help them." He said with a pleased voice. "I'm not afraid of vampires anyway. Do you remember the smell her clothes had when she arrived?"

I nodded. Like some sort of animal.

"I'm afraid that they might have formed an alliance with the shape-shifters."

I remembered the smell of the wolves I had chased over almost the entire world.

"The Children of the Moon?"

The origins to the werewolf myths. Fierce creatures whose only instinct was to kill. The only creature that could match a vampire in strength and speed. They were almost extinct now, and they would have been if it hadn't been for Aro's desire to keep some of them alive.

"No. I'm not talking about the werewolves. Shape-shifters, dear brother, are humans capable of taking the form of an animal. But in this particular case it seems to be wolves."

"And you're sure about this?" I asked.

If he had smelled something it didn't mean that he was right.

"Pretty sure. The hair we tested proved to be in the dog family. Besides; which werewolf would be able to be that close to a human without killing her? And it hasn't been full moon recently."

That part of the legends was true. Werewolves could only change in the light of the full moon.

"Do you think they will bring these shape-shifters to Volterra? That would be pretty suspicious."

Aro laughed. "They would most likely travel as humans. They can decide when they want to become animals."

Marcus glided back and forth on the floor. He didn't make a sound, but the motion itself was pretty distracting. He might be a man of few words, but he cared for the city more than me and Aro.

"I think we should change her." Aro said.

Marcus stopped.

"Not yet. She's not ready." His voice was shocked.

I agreed. If this human was to enter the ranks of our guard, at least she had to learn more about our ways. She had come here with almost no knowledge about the real life of a vampire, and she had barely heard about us.

"They will put their claim on her. They will promise to change her and to teach her the ways of a vampire. The only thing we can do is beat them to it." Aro said calmly.

"So we take upon us the task to teach a newborn its ways? That's a lot of work Aro. We would miss a year of social events. We would have almost no time to deal with the nomads passing through." Marcus knew that the arguments were weak, but he tried.

Aro looked from me to Marcus. He did not like the stand we had taken.

"So what do you suggest dear brother? Let her leave with the Cullen's? Send her back without changing her? Or perhaps we should just kill her and get it over with?"

Marcus looked down. He wouldn't do that either. Killing the girl was not an option, and sending her away was too dangerous.

"We take her in under our wings." He suddenly said. "We twist her thoughts. She already know that the Cullen's left her once before, who's to say that they won't do it again now that the mind-reader is gone?"

Aro's face softened and he gestured for Marcus to continue.

"We form her into what we want her to be. She will never want to return."

"She has a father." I sighed. "She has already asked to go home because he would be afraid."

"So we fake her death!" Aro chimed in. "Excellent suggestion dear brother. This might actually work. Only one problem; what do we tell the rest of the guard when she gets special treatment?"

Marcus looked down again, he had already thought of this.

"We tell them that she is to become my wife. That we're keeping her here so that she can age a bit before taking the throne as a vampire queen."

What? Was he really saying this? He couldn't possibly want the human, could he? This must be a plan to save her. A plan so that she could get a second chance at life.

"What a delightful idea!" Aro smiled from one ear to the other.

'_Mine!'_ I thought. The human didn't belong to Marcus. She would never accept him. He had even told us that the strongest bond was with me. What was he thinking?

I stopped my train of thought. I hated the girl, I should focus on a logical argument, not an emotional one.

"Don't you think we're being a bit overly dramatic now?" I asked.

Aro looked at me with questioning eyes.

"Why are you saying that? This is the perfect plan. We'll just say that Marcus fell in love with her, it'll be the perfect excuse."

I bit the inside of my cheek. I wanted to scream that he couldn't have her, but I knew that I couldn't be thinking straight. Just because I couldn't stand Athenodora didn't mean that Marcus didn't deserve another woman.

'_Just not that woman.'_ The voice inside of me screamed.

But I had to be logical. This was Marcus. He wasn't in love with her. He was doing his best to help Volterra, to keep things from turning into a war. If he had a claim of love on her..

"And if she won't love you back?" I asked. "What do you do then?"

"Nonsense." Aro said before Marcus could open his mouth. "She'll love him."

He looked more than confident, his eyes told me that he and Marcus had made their decision. Bella had just gotten a whole new faith. As a queen of the vampire world.

* * *

**Let me know what you think, I love the opinions. **

**Did you really expect the Cullen's to do nothing?;) The drama has begun, and the story is beginning to unfold. **

**(It's still a Caius/Bella fic.)**

**Jeanita**

**Read Zaytyll's wonderful first chapter of Unfathomable Bonds while you wait! I'll link it on my profile!**


	4. The snake

**Here's the next chapter of A Castle of Ice. And thank Paola-Bearr for her encouragement and for lending me her English abilities (I'm Norwegian if you haven't noticed.). **

**I won't keep you from reading. **

**Jeanita**

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"NO!"

The girl was not giving up easily.

"I will go though the change and become a vampire, but you can't decide that I'm going to marry one of you."

I tried my best to hide a smile, the expressions on Marcus' and Aro's faces were priceless. What reaction had they hoped for? That she would scream yes and jump into Marcus' arms? They clearly hadn't thought this though.

"But this way you will be able to be a vampire queen. You will be safe, and you will be able to enjoy life her, in luxury."

She got off the bed quickly. She was almost shaking with anger.

"I have no desire to be anyone's queen, I just want to go home!"

"I'm afraid that's impossible, little one. We have to make sure that you adjust to your new lifestyle, and Marcus here is willing to take you under his wings."

She looked at Marcus with disbelief in her eyes.

"I'm sure you're a great person, but I can't _marry_ you."

"Why not?" Aro was the one to ask, Marcus were completely silent.

"Because I'm an eighteen year old girl from America who came here to save my boyfriend. Who you killed. I'm not going to marry one of you!"

I loved to use the phrase 'I told you so', but this didn't seem to be the proper time or place to annoy Aro. He was already irritated by this human.

"But you say that Marcus is a great person." Aro continued.

"That's not enough." Bella said. "There has to be love when you marry someone. I said he was a great person, I didn't say I loved him."

She gave Marcus an apologetic look.

"We should leave her alone, brother." I said to Aro, hoping he noticed the warning in my voice.

Aro looked furious now. I couldn't believe that he hadn't noticed the centuries pass by. Arranged marriages were popular a couple of hundred years ago, but women had rights now. They could even vote.

Not that the girl shouldn't feel honored to even get the opportunity to become a bride of one of the Volturi brothers. She should have known how many nomads who came by and tried to claim his attention. And she had just refused him.

"Yes." Aro said.

He began to walk out of the room. I was about to follow him when he spoke so quietly that the girl couldn't hear it.

"You stay here, Caius. I need to talk to Marcus, and the human girl has to learn how great he really is."

I walked over to him and grabbed his hand, telling him exactly how I felt being used so that Bella could see how much better Marcus was. He was planning for me to act in a way that made the girl scream and run the other way.

"You will do as you're told." Aro said in the same low voice.

I let go of his hand and walked back to the chair.

Fine. I would do as I was told, but nothing else. I would stay here. And I would act like I actually cared for the human. That ought to give Aro some grief later.

The human was angrily walking around in the room. She was muttering to herself about how rude it had been of Aro to just say that she was marrying Marcus. I smiled to myself. This would be much easier than I had thought.

"Don't worry about him. He can't actually force you to marry him. His wife would kill him if he actually overruled your own decisions."

She stopped in her tracks and looked at me with questioning eyes.

"The girl who was here yesterday?" She asked.

"Yes. Sulpicia."

Sulpicia was a much better person than my wife, she even looked caring. Her long golden hair was always loose and waved down her back. She always wore make-up that made her look natural, not the dramatic look Athenodora always put on.

Basically, you would never think that that woman was married to Aro.

"She was nice." Bella said with a distant voice.

"You were lucky Aro didn't ask my wife." I tried to make it sound light. Humoristic. "She would have bitten your head off."

The human didn't smile. I guess she was still frustrated by what Aro had said.

"Is he always like this?" she asked.

Should I tell her the truth, or should I come up with another lie. The truth would be most efficient. She would hate him even more, and she would never take his offer to marry Marcus.

"Yes. Aro is the leader of the Volturi, with that comes a lot of responsibility."

I decided that I could tell the truth and still stick up for Aro, that way it would be easier for her to think that I really was one of the good guys. Just one who had been robbed for all right to make decisions.

"Yeah, but I'm sure Carlisle and the others would help me get through the years as a newborn. If they don't want me there after that I'll manage on my own. There's no reason for you to keep me here."

Now came the time for telling lies.

"It's been three days, Bella. Do you really think the Cullen's will come to your rescue? You might want to consider other alternatives."

I could have told her the truth and gotten Aro irritated when I did so, but I really didn't want this girl to go back to the Cullen's. I couldn't explain it. It could be my hatred for the Cullen's, but it could also be my hatred for the girl.

"I don't have alternatives. Because I'm definitely not marrying that guy!"

I fought the urge to smile.

"You wouldn't have to marry him, you know. You would just have to pretend. So that our guard wouldn't get jealous for the way we treat you."

I hated to play nice. It meant treating people like they wanted to be treated. I was not good at that.

"What would I have to do if I pretended to be married to him?"

"Nothing special." I said. "Just show up on some social events, wear a pretty dress, and wave at the crowd."

It seemed like she thought about it. I didn't like that. I had hoped that she would still refuse to have anything to do with Marcus.

"Aro should let me leave!" She suddenly said. "Even if the Cullen's don't come I could go through the change and the first year here, and then leave."

She tried to lay an alternative plan, one Aro wouldn't like at all. And even I couldn't imagine this girl wandering alone, travelling from place to place without anyone to talk to.

"Life as a nomad can be lonely." I said. "Roaming around, doing nothing else than hunt."

"I could settle down." She said. "I could go to school."

"Like that wouldn't be suspicious. A lonely teenager. What would you do? Take the senior year over and over again? You don't have parents so beginning from the start would be almost impossible."

A flash of sadness colored her face for a second, but she controlled her thoughts quickly.

"I could get a job." She said.

"Sure. Working in a store or something."

She looked unsure again.

"Settling down only works when you have others there, since it's supposed to look normal from the outside. A lone teenager in a small town? Not really natural."

"But I can't stay here!"

She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Of course you can. You have the offer. And I'm sure Aro will insist on it."

If she was capable of reading between the lines she would probably hear the underlying meaning. Aro would not let her go. He would keep her here whether she wanted it or not. So long that she would forget about her boyfriend and his family. She would be another mindless member of the guard. Like the ones controlled by Chelsea.

"But I can't stay a prisoner here forever. I want my life back!"

Frustrated tears started running down her cheeks.

"Bella." I tried my best to be kind, but seeing her cry made the anger flare back up inside of me. "Whatever happens I can assure you that you will never get your old life back. Those days are gone. You will have to choose between death or becoming a vampire."

Even to me my tone sounded harsh, but so be it. She had to know that there really wasn't much choice. One way or another, her heart would have to stop beating.

The thought of her heart made me tune in to the soft, sloshing sound of her blood being pumped through her body. My mouth filled up with venom, and my throat ached for her blood. I held my breath while trying to gather my thoughts.

"I know." The girl, Bella, whispered.

"Then you know that you have to realize that this place might be a good place to be. You don't even have to hunt for yourself. Unless you prefer animal blood I guess."

Her eyes were suddenly wide open.

"The humans come here because they want to? They want you to drink their blood?"

I shouldn't have said that. This would definitely not help in getting her to stay at the castle. Did I want her to stay at the castle? I had been so set on making her leave, getting her to choose death. But now I was suddenly trying to convince her to stay?

"Not really by their own will. We have a vampire with a power to make people follow her and think that they want to do it as well. She collects groups of tourists who serve as our meals. But not often. We can't risk being discovered."

I tried to sugar-coat the horrible truth, but I knew that she would see through it.

"You get innocent tourists to come by so that you can feed on them?" she almost yelled.

"Yes."

There was no way to defend our actions, but there might still be a way to get her to stay.

"Like I said, humans are below us on the food chain. But any vampire is free to choose his or hers food preferences. I'm sure you would be able to hunt animals. Or at least get donated blood."

She calmed down a bit, the discussion the day before had clearly made some impression on her.

"You could have gotten a great life here. You could be a vampire queen."

She sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I'll have to think about it. Even though I'm not getting married for real it would be pretending to love someone I don't. I'm not sure if I could do that."

"If there is something I know about humans and vampires it's that they always adapt to the circumstances. I don't think you're an exception."

She looked at me with her large brown eyes.

"What if I am? What if I can't do it?"

I fought an urge to roll my eyes.

"Then you wouldn't have to spend that much time with Marcus anyway. The wives are usually preoccupied with their own hobbies. You would be free to do almost anything you wanted. As long as you were accompanied with someone while you're still human."

She looked at me with a shocked face.

"I don't need a babysitter."

"No, but you might try to run away. And there are a lot of vampires in this castle if you haven't noticed. If one of them was to attack you? You wouldn't stand a chance, princess."

I was almost shocked as the words left my mouth. Princess? That was not a nickname for a pet-human. I hoped she wouldn't think too much about it. Maybe I had made it sound just a little harsh. Just enough for her to not think that it was a nice thing to be called.

By her glaring, I guessed she had.

"Don't call me princess." She said. Emphasizing every word.

I gave her a stiff smile.

"I will call you whatever I want. Just be happy that I settled on princess."

I hoped I made it sound believable.

She got up from the bed and started to walk around again, giving me angry glares whenever she could.

"So if I stay here, I would have to adapt to a whole new life and a whole new me? I would have to be watched 24/7, because someone might want to kill me?"

"Only until you are changed. As a newborn you would be much stronger than the others, they wouldn't dare to attack you."

She didn't respond to that one, she just kept walking around. It seemed like she was nervous.

"And when would I have to make my choice?" she asked with a quivering voice.

I thought about it. Aro would probably let her think for a couple of years, but she would not leave these rooms until she had made a decision. How long could she go before she lost her personality? How long could she sit here without going mad?

"Depends. How long do you think you can stand this view? These tiny rooms? This is what you'll be seeing until you have decided. And only you can decide your view after the decision."

"Which choices do I really have? First you told me that I could become a vampire, now you're telling me that I have to be a vampire queen? The death choice is still available I guess?"

I cocked an eyebrow. Was she serious?

"Do you want to die?" I asked her. "It can be arranged."

I was behind her before her human sight had realized that I was gone from the chair. I bent one of her arms behind her back and circled the other one around her neck, bending it so that the skin was bare beneath my eyes.

I inhaled the intoxicating scent, and felt how the desire to bite almost took control over me. The thoughts of how her sweet blood would run down my throat. How her heart would still pump the blood through her veins. How she would scream out at first, but how her attempts to fight me off would be useless.

I let my breath out over her bare neck and watched the goosebumps rise on her skin. Her heart was hammering how, the air around her moved with every heartbeat. The scent of her blood strengthened, and I knew that I couldn't inhale without risking her life now.

"Do you want me to end it now?" I whispered in her ear. "I could if you wanted me to."

That was the air I had. Now I had to wait for her answer.

She stood completely still; the only movement was the beat of her heart.

"No." She whispered. "I don't want to die."

A single tear hit the arm that was pushing her head down. I moved back to the chair, drawing a careful breath. The smell was still strong, and because of the close contact it was also on me. My clothes smelled of her, the air smelled of her. Bella just stood there; completely unaware of the trials she caused me. The pain of the thirst. The sweetest smelling blood in the entire universe.

"Why are you crying?" I asked.

It seemed a bit silly for her to cry because she was afraid now. She hadn't cried much because of fear, just the loss she had suffered when her love was taken away.

"Because it would have been right to wish I was dead. It would have been right to wish I was with Edward. But I don't know what to believe. Will there be an afterlife for both of us? I never doubted it before, but now.."

"When death is thrown upon you, it's the instinct to say you want to live." I said quickly.

I didn't want her to start crying again.

"Maybe." She said. "But I really don't want to die."

"You don't have to." I reminded her.

"No, but that would mean no chance to see Edward again. I would go on forever without him. He expected to see me on the other side, wherever that is, and I'm here. I'm still here."

"The meaning of 'never' doesn't really exist, you know? Even the world will come to an end sometime. Not even vampires would survive that. But I would welcome and natural end in a couple of million years."

She smiled briefly.

"I can't imagine millions of years without Edward." She said.

Her eyes were distant, like she was looking at something I couldn't see. She was remembering. Then I thought of something that could help her.

"Do you want to forget him? Do you want to make it harder to remember, but still keep some memories? When you go through the change it will seem like looking through muddy water or a thick fog. You won't hurt as much. It will be like looking a hundred years back in time."

Her eyes met mine, and I could see that she wanted it. She wanted to be able to look through a veil when she thought about her love.

'_So'_ I thought to myself. _'He was never her _real_ soulmate.'_

If he had been, she would have clung to the memories the hardest she could. She would want to die, just to see if there was an afterlife with him. But this girl had a normal reaction, a self-preserving reaction. She wasn't the sacrificing soulmate, and she should be glad. I had watched Marcus torture himself for more than a millennia.

She would be able to let the vampire go, and she would be able to live on. It would just hurt for a while, and then she would be normal again.

"I think I would want that, sometime." She admitted. "But not right now."

She looked down, like she had said something wrong again.

"OK." I said. "I take it you want to marry Marcus then?"

She shook her head desperately.

"You will have to talk with Aro then, but I don't think he will change his mind. He wants you near so that he can control you, if you're married to my brother you would have to stick around."

She looked at me with her large brown eyes.

"Marcus loves someone else, and I know that I can never fill that void. Why should I marry him?"

I smiled at her.

"You still carry around your love for that vampire. Is that so different?"

"No. But I get a second chance with almost clean sheets, Marcus' memory will always be crystal clear."

I could see her problem, but she had to know that this was the only chance she would get. Marry Marcus while she was human and get a year or two before turning into one of us.

"You don't have to love him." I said a bit quieter.

"What do you mean?"

"I have spent so many centuries with my wife, but she was chosen for me. I never loved her; she would just look good by my side."

I couldn't believe what I was telling this human. This was supposed to remain a secret to save the face of the Volturi.

"So she's beautiful?" The girl asked shyly.

"No." I said. "She used to be, but she can't seem to notice the passing of the years. She's stuck in the old ages. You know, huge dresses and high hair."

I smiled a little when I thought about the normally comical appearance of my wife. I knew Aro also didn't think she looked like one of us anymore. It would probably just be a year or two before he replaced her. I had begged for him to do it 40 years ago, but he had refused. This time it would be different. After he had recruited Heidi he had something to compare them to. And Heidi was beautiful.

"How can you stand being with someone you don't love?" She asked me.

I thought about it. I could have given her the real answer, but it would be too personal. I couldn't tell her that I had never experienced love in its purest form. I had nothing I could compare it to. Therefore I had nothing to miss.

"You just do."

I shrugged my shoulders.

"It has been done for as long as the earth has existed. Individuals have been forced to live together. But as a vampire there are no children to take care of, so you can just be married in name."

Bella looked like she had just heard something that sounded so awful that she wanted to forget it. Was the idea of an arranged marriage so repulsive to her? Even if it saved her life?

I realized that I had completely forgotten whose team I was on. I had planned to repulse her, I had planned to make her hate this life. But instead I tried to convince her.

"This is my only chance?" She asked.

"Yes, but you can still choose death." I said. "It's not something you have to decide tonight."

She nodded her head.

When her face was expressionless and calm I could see the large circles under her eyes. She hadn't had much sleep the last couple of days, and it really showed on her face. She was pale, almost pale enough to pass as a vampire, and she was shivering. The room should have a comfortable temperature for a human, but people usually got cold when they were tired.

"You should try to get some sleep, Bella."

"I can't sleep." She said. "The nightmares will return."

Looking at her it seemed like she could sleep for a century without waking up.

"Someone will always be in the room with you. There's nothing to worry about."

She lifted her head to look at me.

"You can't keep the dreams away."

She still crawled into bed, pulling the covers over her. She didn't bother to undress, something I could understand since I was in the room. It wouldn't matter anyway, she would get new ones in the morning.

I could smell her silent tear, but I didn't want to make a point of it.

"Do you want me to see if Sulpicia wants to spend the night here?" I asked.

She thought about it for a couple of seconds.

"No." She decided. "It won't matter who's here while I'm asleep."

It didn't sound like she was sure about it, more like she didn't want to interrupt someone else.

But as I watched the girl drift away to sleep, I realized that there was things I really should make myself clear about.

This girl was a human. A living, breathing, human. I should not get too attached to her. I had no reason to get attached to her. Humans were nothing but food, right? They were not intelligent enough to have a proper conversation with. They were oblivious to the world around them.

So why was this girl able to twist me around her finger?

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**You didn't expect Bella to freely accept their idea? No.. Not this girl. But you see where it is going. **

**Caius is getting more and more conflicted in his feelings. He has started to struggle, and he doesn't know what to do. Tomorrow I have to start Intentions, but another chapter should be up in a week. **

**Jeanita**


	5. The other one

**Firstly, please allow me the chance to apologize to my readers. Especially those who are waiting for **_**Intentions**_** to be started. I am going to a fucked up time right now, but things will get better. I promise. I just have a lot of things on my mind, and it's not only my writing that's suffering from it. **

**Second; This chapter is a bit shorter than the others, but I won't fill it up with empty words. **

**Enjoy.**

**Jeanita**

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I was walking restlessly though the castle corridors. I tried to understand myself, but so far I hadn't figured out anything. What had happened? Fair enough, I had tried to not be myself, I had tried to not make the girl think that I was the evil one. But I hadn't expected myself to be able to play that role good. I had expected to scare her away, instead I had had a conversation with her.

But the problem was that it hadn't felt like a role. It had felt like a conversation. Fair enough, I wasn't the best person to see the difference between a role and a conversation, I had spent centuries wearing a mask in front of everyone. A mask I had had to wear, the mask I always had to wear.

I shook my head. I liked the vampire I was. I liked the power and the influence I had over others. I liked the respect others had for me. There had never been a mask, it was just me. I was not a people person, I wasn't even sure if I could be called a vampire person. I was Caius.

I hadn't seen Bella in three days, I had kept away since we talked. I didn't want to see her. She was delaying the decision, and Aro was letting her. Her choices were few, marry Marcus and become a vampire later, or die by the teeth of someone in the castle.

She had thrown another fit though, asking why she couldn't just choose becoming a vampire. Aro had told her that he wanted her in the guard, and that he wasn't just going to let her go. Of course he had tried to tell her that as carefully as he could, he didn't want her to see the real him. The cold, manipulative man he really was.

The footsteps of a vampire was coming in my direction. From the light steps I could hear Demetri's signature skip. He was always walking a bit faster than everyone, but not completely balanced. It was easy to hear.

"Master." He greeted me when he saw me.

"Demetri." I nodded towards him.

Demetri and I had been changed at the same age, the early twenties. But he was a little shorter than me, and his hair was cut short and messed up. But since it suited him we had allowed his rather modern look.

His adventurous red eyes shone up in his face, he had news for me.

"The rumor is that Marcus is planning on making the human his bride." He whispered.

I knew it would get out soon enough, the castle had many eager ears. I was more interested to see what this rumor could lead to.

"From whom did you hear this?" I asked.

Demetri frowned, but he remembered his promise.

Not that it would matter. Whoever heard it wouldn't be able to deny it, but Aro would not destroy them. Aro was getting softer, growing more scared of the new generations of vampires out there.

I knew he should be. They grew stronger, they lived in larger covens. The Cullen's were only one of these larger covens.

"From the twins." Demetri finally answered.

I rolled my eyes. Jane and Alec had both sworn to keep their mouths shut, the problem was that they knew that there wouldn't be consequences. They thought they could get away with everything. Stupid infants. Why did we still keep them in the guard? Well, because they were the most powerful weapons on earth. Untouchable, invincible.

"And what is the general response to the rumors?" I asked.

Demetri looked even more reluctant to tell me this. It could only mean that the answer was not one I would want to hear.

"They say she's not worth it. Many of our female members think they would be a better choice for a vampire queen. They don't like the human."

A blazing rage filled me, but only for a second. They were right after all. The girl was only a human. A human with a blank mind. What use could she possibly be to Marcus?

Pictures filled my head. A silent movie I did not want to see flashed before my eyes.

"You'll tell me if they're planning on causing any trouble, right?" I asked Demetri.

He nodded, his eyes eager again.

"But is it true?" He asked. "Is Marcus planning on marrying the human girl?"

"No." I said before I thought about it.

Demetri's face fell a little. He had hoped for more drama, something that could stir up the life in the castle. He looked like he wanted to ask more questions, but he knew that he had no right to know the answers.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" I asked when he kept staring up at me.

"Of course, master."

He looked embarrassed down and bowed quickly before hurrying down the hallway.

I waited for his footsteps to disappear before continuing to walk. This time only more frustrated than last time. I needed..

Her face flickered before my closed eyelids when I unconsciously blinked. No. It could not be her I needed, I was just agitated by my talk with Demetri. The images of her and Marcus.

Still I saw her, her cheeks flushed, her eyes closed, her lips slowly parting to let out a soft moan. How her heart would accelerate, and how she would tilt her head back, leaving her neck bare and unprotected. I could almost hear her hitching breath as I would sink my fangs into the soft skin, her warm blood as it would run down my throat, thick and sweet.

"Daydreaming?"

The voice that came from in front of me belonged to Athenodora. I hadn't heard her sneaking up on me, I had been too lost in my own thoughts to pay any attention to her approaching steps.

"What do you want, _Dora_?" I asked.

She hated the shortened version of her name, always saying she didn't think it was fitting for a queen.

"I came to find you." She said, pressing her index finger to my chest. "I haven't seen you much the last days, it's not like you."

Her Italian accent was thick and she was batting her lashes desperately. So degrading for a vampire like her.

"Have it occurred to you that I might have more important matters than keeping you happy?" I asked.

Her fake smile faltered for a couple of seconds.

"Does this have something to do with Aro's human?" She asked coolly.

I raised my eyebrows, could it be that she was jealous? Finally feeling unsure about her place? I hoped so, but I wasn't going to play with her.

"We have all been busy because of the human, but if I wanted to see you, I would have found the time." I said in an even icier tone.

Her eyes darkened.

"You should remember that I am your wife." She said. "Maybe I will tell Aro about your behavior."

I took a step towards her, forcing her to back up. She was weaker than me, and in a fight it wouldn't take long to rip her to shreds. Especially not considering her poor fighting skills.

"Was that supposed to be a threat, Dora?" I asked while forcing her back to the stone wall. "Because I don't think you're in a position to threaten me. Who do you think Aro would choose, me or you?"

Her smile was completely gone now, her hands was reaching out behind her, waiting for the wall.

"He wouldn't approve of the way you treat me." She said stubbornly.

Her eyes were set, and her mouth was a thin line. What had been left of her beauty was long gone now.

"Aro wouldn't really care about how I treated you." I answered her when she hit the cold stones behind her. "You have no place in the guard, you don't even have a place in the throne room. You're disposable."

I laughed at her.

"Don't you remember what he did to his own sister when she became a nuisance? Do you think he would hesitate doing the same to you?" I whispered in her ear.

I could feel the fear run through her, and how it turned into determination.

"You would never dare to replace me."

Held her chin in one hand, restraining her. She looked like she would have bit my hand off if she could.

"Are you challenging me?"

She looked furious, her eyes burning.

"You shouldn't challenge me, Dora. Because I _will_ win."

I let her go and turned my back to her, walking away as fast as I could. I had no longer any need for keeping her around, she was becoming more trouble than she was worth.

But I couldn't tell Aro yet. I had to make sure that my mind was clear, that I had a good explanation for the thoughts about Bella. Or else this could turn out ugly.

So Athenodora was safe. For now at least.

The throne room was empty when I got there, Marcus was probably babysitting the human, desperately trying to get her to like him. Aro was most likely spending time with Sulpicia. I sat down in my chair, placed one foot over the other and rested my head on my hand. It was a practiced look, the one I preferred to have when we had visitors.

I closed my eyes again, this time because I didn't need to see the cold room. I didn't need to see the familiar shapes of the objects here. But when I closed my eyes, her face returned. It was the same scene. The same look on her face. The same soft moan escaped her lips.

I sighed.

"Why so lost, brother?"

Of course I hadn't heard Marcus' footsteps. He was nothing more than a gliding shadow. Not man, nor vampire. Just a shape.

"I just had an argument with Athenodora, that's all."

He walked around to stand in front of me, a smile played on the corners of his mouth.

"You can't lie to me, so there's no point in trying." He smiled.

He walked over to stand by the wall, leaning and crossing his arms over his chest.

"You can't have her, you know." He said quietly.

A rage started to build up inside me, but I couldn't let him see it.

"Who? Athenodora? The problem is getting rid of her."

Marcus' smile faltered, and he was suddenly serious.

"Not your wife, Caius. The human girl."

I sat up straight in my chair. If he wanted to play this game, I would gladly join him.

"What would I want with a human girl? It is Aro you should be discussing this with."

He looked down for a couple of seconds, it felt like a small eternity passing by.

"I can feel the bond you have with her. But I have to tell you that it is not enough."

Marcus looked up again, his face angry and hard. It had been centuries since I had seen him like this. His words and his tone made me want to punch him through the wall, but that would be his point.

"She's a human girl, why would I have a special bond with her? Maybe your powers are getting weaker brother?"

I felt the anger running in my veins. It took all my self control to not go over to him. To lift him up by his throat and throw him over the room.

"I am not letting you touch her again. Not letting you get close to her again. I'm personally taking over the security of her room."

There was a blazing fire in his eyes, and I knew he was serious about this. I felt the arm-rest of the chair give in to my fingers, listening to the cracking of the wood.

Marcus smiled again.

"What is wrong, brother? She is just a human, is she not? You should be able to ignore her. You can go back to the way it was before she came here."

His eagerness revealed more and more of his Italian accent, and he seemed to unknowingly walk towards me.

"But you can't do that. I feel it when I look at you, I feel it when I look at her. She is too good for you, Caius."

I rose from my seat, there was nothing that could restrain me completely now.

"She is too good for me? A plain human is too good for me? I am one of the Volturi brothers, if anything,_ I_ am too good for _her_."

Marcus laughed.

"Then there really shouldn't be a problem." He turned around, walking towards the door. "Forget her, Caius. She is mine now."

I clenched and loosened my knuckles, but the urge to break something was still there.

I stormed out of the throne room, unsure where I was going. I just needed to be able to think. Her eyes still haunted me, the sound of her moaning ringing in my ears. How could he even think that she was his? It was impossible that she belonged to him.

But this would have to mean that she had made her choice, she had decided that she would become a vampire after all. She had agreed to marry Marcus. Fair enough, it could be the instinct telling her to survive, it could be that she believed she could get out of the deal later. She had not fallen in love with him, I was sure about that.

His words had been taunting, challenging. It had been him who had won this round, but there was no way I was letting him win the game. He could just wait and see.

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**So. Hoped you liked it. And if you're like me, addicted to the dark, mysterious men in Volterra, write a oneshot for the "I get off in Volterra contest". I'll put a link up on my profile. These men need more love!**

**Jeanita**


	6. The first step

**It's been a looooooong time since this story was updated, but I know that there are some of you who really want me to continue. So here is chapter 6, much, much too late.. Enjoy.**

**Jeanita.**

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I spent almost all my time in the library.

I could not relax. The feeling that I was running out of time increased in strength every day. Every day new details about the wedding were whispered through the halls, and the court did nothing to either hide their joy or suppress their anger.

I did nothing to suppress my anger either. Why should I? I had been clear about my opinion about the union, and I had no intentions of changing my mind about it. Marcus did not love the girl, and there was no chance that the girl could love Marcus either. This all was just for her to stay alive, and for Aro to gain another precious ability that he could use for his own benefit.

I picked up the decorative bronze-cup on the table and threw it to the wall. The sound echoed in the empty room, and I could hear the voices outside the door silence for a couple of seconds. I didn't care.

I grabbed my coat and left the room, but I had no idea where I would go. I was not allowed into her room anymore. It was always guarded by Marcus or someone loyal to him. I wondered how he had planned that this relationship would work, with his bride constantly guarded behind a closed door. She was secure there, out of my reach, but she was also still a prisoner.

I took a right turn before I could see the large door to her chambers, avoiding the blazing anger that the close proximity would cause. Avoiding the all too alluring scent of her blood, the sweet smell of the air she breathed out.

I shook my head before I could continue down that trail of thoughts, reminding myself that I couldn't act without a plan. And so far I had no idea as to how I would get to see her without Marcus knowing about it.

The rest of it was clear; I would have to get her to change her mind. I would either make her consider dying, or making her see that Marcus was not the best option in here.

I had not yet decided if I wanted her to fall for me, as it was much more satisfying to know that she was scared of me, to know that her heart would beat faster, harder, whenever I was there.

"You're going out?"

Gianna's voice was startled and chocked as I passed the front desk.

"Yes." I let my eyes meet hers, forcing her to look down. "Is there something wrong about that?"

"N-no" she stuttered and pushed the button for the door opener. "Have a nice night."

I turned around and walked out into the dark, Italy night. The sweet, floral smell filled the streets and mixed with the scent of the pubs. Blood, alcohol and summer. Usually this mix would make my instincts flare, and I would enter one of the bars, seducing some young, innocent girl.

But the only girl I could thing about was locked up in her room, sheltered from the rest of the world. I started walking down the narrow ally, hoping that my memory hadn't betrayed me because of my wanting to see the girl.

The wall that surrounded the gardens of the castle was tall, thick and made out of slippery stone so that it would be harder for a human to climb it. Not that it was necessary; guards patrolled the area constantly, and just because you couldn't see them, didn't mean they weren't there.

I could smell Jane, which meant that this would be even more challenging than I expected. I pressed my back against the wall, closed my eyes, and listened. They were there all right, but from what I could hear, they were standing by the far end of the wall, whispering quietly to each other.

I climbed the wall as silently as I could, making sure that I wouldn't be heard by Jane and Corin. When I reached the top, I carefully let myself down on the other side, hitting the ground without as much as a thump.

I looked around, but the tall trees and bushes should hide me as successfully as they blocked the guards from my sight. I moved slowly through the garden, making sure that the constant murmur of whispers never paused to listen to the sounds in the night.

Had I not been on my own mission, I would clearly go straight to Aro and tell him precisely how lousy the guards were at their job, but this time it worked to my advantage.

I reached the wall, and looked up. It had to be at least 15 feet to the window, 15 feet of stone wall. The window was open, and as the wind changed I was hit by her sweet smell. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, greedily. The venom flowed in my mouth, and I swallowed it back and forced myself to focus.

I would easily be able to climb the wall, I was a vampire after all, but I also knew that the guards would be able to see me the instant I was off the ground. The wall was a straight up-and-down stone wall without any irregularities, so any disturbing element would be obvious.

The guards would have to reach back to the other side of the garden soon, and from there it would be harder to spot anyone climbing the castle walls. I turned around and listened for their whispers, but they seemed to still be standing in the same place.

I rolled my eyes, wishing I could tell Aro about their incompetence. I had told him not to pair the girls together for guard duty, but he ignored my warnings as usual. I looked down at the ground, and picked up a small rock. If they had no intentions of moving, I would have to make sure that they did anyway.

I threw the rock over the top of the wall, and waited for it to hit the ground outside. The soft "click" of rock on rock made the whispers silence instantly and the two figures moved soundlessly to the other side of the garden.

I waited a couple of seconds before I hastily moved up to the window and slipped in, closing the window behind me.

I could hear her soft breathing before I had even laid my eyes on her. Even, calm breaths; she was sleeping. I turned around so that I was facing the bed.

She had thrown off her comforter, and was lying on her back. One hand placed on the pillow next to her head, the other on the bed beside her. Her emerald-green nightgown had curled up high on her thigh, exposing the perfect, white, untouched skin.

I took a step towards the bed, mesmerized by the sight of the contrast of the silk on the velvet skin. I imagined how her skin would feel under my fingertips, and my hand reached out to touch her. She was soft and warm, like perfect velvet. Her skin radiated life, and it pulsed with the blood in her veins.

She turned her head to the right, leaving her neck exposed, and I couldn't resist the urge to lean down. The radiating warmth from her skin tingled in my lips, and I let my tongue carefully caress the skin of her neck before I softly pressed my lips to her skin.

I breathed in from the surprise as I realized what I was doing, and flung myself to the wall, pressing one hand to my suddenly flaring throat.

The girl on the bed moved, exposing more of her pale skin. I closed my eyes and forced myself to take deep, even breaths. It had been too long since I had hunted, and I should have thought about that before I came here. But it was too late now, I was here, and I had no intention of giving up.

I took slow steps towards the bed, and pulled the covers up over her. One less thing to make me lose control. She turned around again, mumbling.

"Edward?"

Her voice was nothing but a whisper, barely audible.

"No." I whispered back. "Edward is dead, remember?"

She opened her eyes slowly, and I could hear her heart beat faster in surprise. She let her hand find the cover and made sure that she was completely covered before she said something again.

"You?" she asked.

"Well," I said, as I shrugged out of my coat. "I guess you would expect anyone else."

She sat up in the bed, resting her back on the bedpost as she tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

"They said you wouldn't be back. That they saw no reason for you to waste your precious time with a human." She altered her voice as she said the last part.

I raised an eyebrow, but I had expected them to throw some dirt in my direction.

"Well, truth to be told, I am not allowed to be here."

I winked at her, and I heard her heart skip a beat, and it took a while for what I had said to sink in.

"Not allowed?"

I shrugged before I answered.

"Something to do with you being someone else's bride, I guess."

She looked down at the bed, blushing, and I saw my chance to continue.

"So you came to your senses and agreed to marry Marcus? Good for you."

Her mouth opened and closed, like she was about to start a dozen of sentences, but disregarded them all.

"I figured I had to." she finally muttered.

I nodded, I had agreed to that already.

"And how is the planning coming along?" I asked, trying to sound light. Mocking even.

Her eyes blazed with anger as she looked back up at me.

"I do not want this marriage, and I am not planning it either. Sulpicia has taken it on, and I don't want to know about it before I have to walk down the aisle. Or whatever you vampires do."

I laughed. The wedding would probably be extravagant and over-done to the extreme, but the ceremony itself was nothing more than the signing of a paper. Usually we marked our wives as our own, by biting their neck and leaving a permanent scar, but that would be let out since she would still be human.

"What?" she asked, still with some of the lingering anger in her voice.

"Nothing." I answered.

She pulled her knees up to her chin and looked me straight in my eyes. If I had a heart, I was sure that it would skip a beat when her deep gaze trapped mine. But the only physical reaction was on her end; her blood racing through her veins, making the air around her shiver.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

I smiled, as I knew this would be the perfect place to set my plan in motion.

"I guess I couldn't stay away."

Her pupils grew larger as the words sank in, and her cheeks took on a light, rosy tone.

"What do you mean?"

I shrugged.

"Your scent, there is something special about it."

Usually I wouldn't admit to this, but the whole point of me being here in the first place was to get her to trust me. To trust me in a way she couldn't trust Marcus.

"Huh."

She looked away, her eyes focusing on something only she could see.

"Why is it that you don't seem to mind me being here?" I asked her, trying to tear her away from her memories.

The air was suddenly thick with her scent, her face more than a little red.

"What make you think that I don't?" she replied.

I grinned.

"Well. If you raised your voice just a little, someone would be in here, carrying me away within seconds."

She smiled shyly.

"Truth to be told, you're the only one who still treats me like crap around here."

I raised my eyebrows.

"I have never had someone like my rudeness before, but I assure you that every word I have said is nothing but the truth."

She laughed and threw a pillow at me. I caught it before it hit me, of course, but the scent of it was almost overwhelming, and I swallowed back the venom that instantly filled my mouth.

"That was not what I meant." She said as she brushed back some of her hair with her hand. "You're the only one that doesn't suck up to me. Everyone treats me like I am special, like I am dangerous. You just treat me like you treat anyone else. Or maybe even worse."

Her eyes shone with mischief as she said the last sentence, like she was challenging me.

"Most likely worse." I said with a fake seriousness.

She laughed again, and the sound thrilled through me like ringing bells.

"But seriously." She said after a little while. "I would much rather be treated like a person, even if means having you tell me just how little I am worth."

I laughed; an action that forced me to breathe in again. With every breath I felt the monster in me crave her blood. I felt the instinct tell me to rip off her nightgown and have my way with her. I felt myself loose more and more of my precious control.

A part of me told me that I didn't need the control now, that I could silently snap her neck and drain her before anyone noticed. It wasn't like Aro would have the guts to kill me for it anyway.

But I didn't want to. I wanted to win this fair and square. I wanted her to refuse Marcus, to humiliate him and therefore win the challenge. And so she had to stay alive. For now.

She suddenly yawned and stretched, and I had no choice but to take advantage of the moment.

"You should get back to sleeping, people will get suspicious if you are dead tired in the morning."

She opened her mouth in protest, but I continued to talk.

"I will sneak back some other night, I did tell you that you have an irresistible scent, did I not?"

I winked at her, and said scent strengthened. Again.

I was at the window before even I realized I had moved.

"Will you be here tomorrow?" the words were desperate, and I turned away so she wouldn't see my smile.

"I never promise anything." I said before I slipped out of the window.

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**I would love any response, and I PROMISE to reply to every single review I get to this chapter. I try to get back into writing, and I will take all the help and encouragement I can get. **

**Jeanita**


	7. The trouble

**I know updates are shorter than the first chapters in the story, and far between, but I am busy. Back to school. Chemistry, politics, history and math take more time than I like (not to mention Norwegian and religion), but that's just how things are. I hope you understand. **

**J**

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"You're back!"

I stood leaning against the wall as the girl sat up in her bed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Apparently I am." I halfway shrugged as to show her that it wasn't a big deal.

But it really was a big deal. I had fought to stay away for the past three nights, fought to not follow the sweet smell of her blood back to her room. Instead I had wandered through the corridors, snapping at everything and everyone. At one point I was sure I had smelled the salt of tears after giving Gianna a piece of my mind.

"What took you so long?" she asked as she slid up the mattress and rested her back to the headboard.

I raised an eyebrow.

"I am a fairly important person, you know. Hanging out in your room doesn't exactly fit my job description."

She blushed furiously, and I was glad I had been present when Heidi had brought back our meal. Her blood was hard to resist, even with a full stomach.

"Sorry." She mumbled.

I walked over to her bed and sat down. Her heartbeat raced, but it was hard to know if it was from the fear of me, or the thrill of me being close.

I let my eyes wander over her. She looked worse than when she came here, and she hadn't really looked healthy then either. She had dark circles under her eyes, her already slender body seemed to have lost some weight, and her complexion hadn't benefited from being deprived of sunshine and fresh air.

"How are you?" I asked. No harm in trying to be friendly tonight.

She shrugged, but her eyes flickered to a spot on the wall.

"I'm as fine as I can be here, I guess."

I nodded carefully, trying to seem both interested and concerned at the same time.

"And everyone is treating you alright?"

She sighed and gave me an exasperated look.

"Everyone is treating me like I was made of porcelain, though I probably ought to be used to that by now. Everyone is talking my head off about the wedding, which I still don't know anything about." She trailed off.

"And Marcus? Has he been here? Has he talked to you?"

She nodded.

"He's here once a day. Asking me questions like I was being interviewed. I guess he is trying to get to know me, and trying to get me to know him, but it just seems so forced."

I rolled my eyes. It was not like I wanted her to fall for Marcus, but even he should know how to treat a lady. You can't exactly force someone to get to know you, but I guess centuries alone had made him somewhat socially impaired.

"You will have to excuse him. He hasn't exactly talked to a girl since his wife died."

She nodded.

"I figured that much. I'm trying to give him a chance, since I'm marrying him and everything."

I tried to laugh, but to me it sounded more like a choked cough. I didn't want her to accept that she was marrying a vampire she didn't even know. I didn't want her to just get over her boyfriend's death. I wanted her to be in mourning long enough for me to make an impression she couldn't shake off. I wanted her to be mine.

At least; I wanted to win.

"You're sure you're alright with everything?" I asked, and hoped that the worried tone was convincing enough.

She shrugged again, but her eyes were cautious, like she suspected I would attack her at any second.

"It's my only choice. It's not how I wanted to meet someone. It's not how I wanted to get married. I'm not even sure I would have wanted to get married. But I'm not ready to die."

An awkward silence seemed to instantly fill the room as soon as the last words left her mouth. I let it last for a little while longer, pretending as if I could imagine how hard this was for her.

"I'm sorry, but there is nothing I can do to stop these things from happening now. Aro and Marcus have made their choice, and nothing I can say will change their minds. I am the least important master here, so my opinions are not that valuable."

She looked at me with curious eyes.

"I thought you were one of the rulers? One of the vampires making decisions for the rest of the vampire world?"

I chuckled darkly.

"I am. Though the only one without a special gift of some kind. Therefore I can only contribute with my skills in strategy and age. And being one of the first turned vampires in known existence."

"So you're kind of an outsider here?" she asked.

I smiled, at least I guessed the movement of my mouth would count as an attempt of some kind.

"I wouldn't really say that, I do have a say in most matters. Though when it comes to voting, my vote would probably not count as much if it came down to it. I am replaceable."

She smiled, and for a moment I wanted to smile with her. Her whole presence seemed to change when she smiled. She went from being a pathetic human, to … well. A little less pathetic. Her face brightened, and her eyes got a sparkle that any man would have a hard time resisting.

My eyes trailed further down, over her cheekbones, her nose, her perfect white teeth … Until I reached the silky fabric of another expensive nightgown. This one was deep red, the color of fresh blood.

Letting my eyes linger there for a moment, I could see that the room was a bit chilly. The realization of what I was looking at made the venom flow into my mouth almost too fast to swallow it back. I gripped the fabric of the linen, and tightened my knuckles, trying to not remember the visions of her moaning my name.

She pulled the covers up, and I met her eyes. I opened my mouth to hide the fact that I had been staring at her breasts.

"I should probably get back to my duties now."

Her eyes widened.

"What? Why? You just got here!"

I gave her a crooked smile.

"You just woke up. Who's to say that I just got here?"

I stood up, realizing that I would have to follow through with leaving now, or else it would make me seem weak. Like I could be talked into staying.

I walked over to the window and looked at the empty garden outside. The guards were not here, as they were feeding at least for another 30 minutes.

I heard her moving on the bed, and turned around to look at her. Her whole face displayed disappointment, and I knew that I had her right where I wanted her.

"I said I would probably come back, I never said I would stay for a whole night. Besides, you need your beauty sleep."

I threw myself out of the window before she had a chance to reply, though I still felt a sting as I hurried over to the wall and began my way back to the castle.

Could it actually be that I wanted her for some other reason than winning? No. Definitely not. She was a human, I was a vampire. The only thing I could possibly want was her unusually tempting blood, and the chance to actually win something around here.

I rounded the corner that led up to the castle's main doors and ran smack into Athenodora. Her knowing smile let me know that she had seen me gone over the wall, and I felt the anger rise inside me. Would she ever learn to stay out of things that were none of her business?

"Caius, dear."

She looked up under dark lashes, her lips curved up to a wicked smile, her expression was suddenly mocking.

"I didn't expect to see you here."

"Cut the act, Athenodora." I said through clenched teeth, fighting to stay calm. "What do you want?"

She raised an eyebrow.

"I want to make sure that my position stays safe, and apparently it's not going to stay that for very long with you sneaking into the human's room in the middle of the night. Her scent clings to you."

Of course her scent would be on me, her blood was not like other humans blood. I shrugged.

She kept talking.

"You were there the other night as well. I followed you. After I knew that I could no longer trust your loyalty I couldn't leave you alone."

"How can you know I didn't try to threaten her out of marrying into the Volturi, making sure that there would be less competition to worry about?"

Her face was suddenly dark and expressionless.

"Because I can feel that you want her. I don't care why; I just want to make sure that you won't get her."

I smiled a half smile; better to fake self-confidence than to let the enemy know you are scared.

"And exactly how will you go about that?" I asked her simply.

"I am sure Aro would appreciate the information I have. The mental pictures of you sneaking into the garden."

If there had been blood flowing through my veins, it would have frozen solid by the chill I felt at her words. She was serious. She wanted to stay queen, even if it meant having me sentenced to death.

"You wouldn't."

"You know I would." She replied and took a step towards me. "You're not getting rid of me this easily, Caius. I am your wife, a queen, and you will not take that away from me."

My hand flew up to her throat and she was quickly pinned to the wall. Strands of black hair caught in the wind and caressed my face as I fought to not take her head off.

"You can't kill me, Caius. You know you can't."

Her eyes had a sparkle of something that could only be described as pure evil, and her blood-red lips were still set in a mocking smile.

"You know that everyone would notice my disappearance, you know that I must have taken precautions before meeting you alone. You're not the only one with a hidden agenda."

I released her, and she landed gracefully on the ground.

"I told my maid that you and I were having differences at the moment, and that I was scared that you would try to get rid of me."

I felt my knuckles clench automatically, and I wanted to rip her apart there and then. But that would only raise suspicions since she had spread a rumor already. Athenodora played the role of a helpless doll to everyone but me and some of the human servants.

She walked over to me and traced the length of my tie with her finger, her face only inches away from mine. The scent of raspberries that I once had loved suddenly grew sickening and far too sweet. She leaned closer, so that her cold, dead lips were only millimeters from my ear.

"Just know this Caius; I am not going away easily. You will have to be smarter than sneaking around to get rid of me. And I would stay away from the human if I was you, someone might give an order for increased security in the garden."

She pressed her lips softly on my cheek before she turned away and walked back through the castle doors.

My cheek burned where she had kissed it, and I felt a childish need to wipe my cheek with the sleeve of my shirt. I should have known she would follow me. I should have taken precautions too. Too little too late now.

I forced my legs to move, and I walked through the same doors that Athenodora had walked through only seconds before me. Her perfume still polluted the air.

"Good evening, Master." Gianna said from her usual spot behind the large mahogany desk.

I didn't bother to reply, the human servants were nothing to me, and this one might be the least important one of them all. They were only there because they hoped to be one of us some day. But the truth was that maybe one or two would be changed every year. One or two out of the 20-30 persons we had working here at all times. The rest would die.

Isabella had no idea how lucky she was in their eyes, and this wasn't even what she really wanted. This was only second price for her.

I shook my head; it was far too easy to let my thoughts find a trail back to the girl. Right now I had to focus.

I pushed the doors to the library open with more force than I needed to and started to pace back and forth in the room.

I refused to give up on the human. I wanted the human, and the human would be mine, the scene with Dora had only made me surer about that. But she held a gun to my head; if she chose to go to Aro I might be thrown out of the Volturi, or even killed.

I stopped and looked out through the window in the ceiling. The sky outside was dark, and there were only a star or two sparkling weakly from unknown distances.

Aro would know if I tried to lie to him, he would be able to read every little thought I had ever had, therefore I couldn't ask permission to get rid of Athenodora. Athenodora would know if I went to see Bella again, so I was unable to manipulate the human into falling in love with me instead of Marcus.

I groaned loudly again.

I should have taken care of Dora before I set my plan to get the human in motion. Before she had read my moves and made a leap to save herself. She would follow me around like a lost puppy until I managed to get rid of her, and she would make a huge fuss about everything I did or said. She would draw attention to us, and that was the last thing I needed now.

I sat down in one of the large chairs and rubbed my temples. I needed to get rid of Dora before I could do anything else. But how?

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**I won't make any promises to when the next chapter will be ready, but this is the part I am looking forward to write. The drama and the action. So it will be here sooner or later. Hopefully sooner. **

**J**


	8. The one who pulls the trigger

**Two chapters in one month^^ Pretty happy about that one. I am REALLY busy, with tests 4 out of 5 days next week, so don't expect anything before the weekend. But the weekend or the week after I WILL promise an update. Because this is getting more interesting to write, and I have fall-break;)**

**Anyway. Enjoy^^**

**It on time that I put another disclaimer on this. But I guess you all know that everything in the Twilight-universe belongs to Stephenie Meyer. **

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The stone halls of the castle echoed my hasty footsteps as I hurried to get to Aro's office. He often sat there and pretended to be important, but we all knew that he didn't really do much. I usually tended to the planning and plotting of downsizing covens that had become too huge for us to trust, and Marcus would be in charge of writing down the history. The history of our race. Aro was just there for show, his power has granted him the safest spot of all though. He was the face of the Volturi, at least to us who know how it all worked.

I stopped in front of the door, knowing that he would command me to come in before I had time to raise my hand to knock.

"Caius." I heard from the other side of the heavy, mahogany door. "You may enter, brother."

I rolled my eyes before I turned the knob and stepped inside. His office looked just like you would expect from someone who ruled a coven like ours; his windows were hidden behind heavy, expensive curtains, his walls were covered in bookshelves that went from floor to ceiling, and on the shelves were old leather-bound books or ancient, priceless artifacts.

He was sitting by his desk, more fitting for a warlord, with his hands placed casually on the armrests.

"How may I help you, Caius?" His voice was the same neutral as always, never giving away too much.

I fought the newly acquired reflex to take a deep breath before speaking, something I had practiced to seem more human to Bella. If I wanted something, I would go to any length to get it.

"I was just going to let you know that I will be leaving the castle with Athenodora for a couple of hours, as you may have heard, we have some differences to sort out."

Aro nodded, this was not news to him.

It was only a couple of days ago I had realized that I could turn Athenodora's little scheme against her. She had been spreading a rumor that we had problems, so it was only natural that I sulked more than usual. It would also be natural if I tried to sort it out.

"What are you planning to do, Caius?" Aro asked with the same neutral voice.

I kept my face calm and my body relaxed, as relaxed as I usually would have been, that is.

"I am set on either sorting things out or …" I let my voice fade. He would get the picture.

This had never been a problem for us before. We were the ancient organization Volturi, and we had never faced a problem with a central member of the inner core. But it would only be natural to get rid of the source of the frustration, right? No matter how long that vampire had existed by our side.

Aro didn't move, not even the corners of his mouth told me if he was on the verge of smiling or frowning. The seconds ticked by, and I became.. nervous? But I stood like I had when I first had started speaking, with the same seriousness and calm as he showed.

"I suppose this is a new situation to us." Aro finally said, his voice not bearing the faintest trace of sadness. "I mean, it's not like we can just get a divorce as a human would. And it would be far too dangerous to just let Athenodora walk."

He became silent again, but he got up and walked to the curtains. He pulled them a couple of inches to the side, and let some of the natural daylight into the room.

"But it has been some time since you two started to fall out. Some decades if my estimations are correct."

I suddenly felt the weird paranoid feeling of something crawling over my skin, a feeling that I hadn't felt in centuries. A feeling that told me that somehow this would be too easy. Perhaps Aro knew something? Perhaps she had already been here, ratted me out like the coward she was? The paranoid feeling was replaced by a pulsing anger, and I struggled to keep a straight face.

"Yes, I would suppose it has been going on for quite some time." I tried my best to relax my jaw as I spoke.

"And I have gotten quite the number of complaints of Athenodora's behavior the last couple of years. Some have even gone to the lengths of calling her bored, as if she has grown tired of this existence."

The sidetrack of the conversation had me already confused, but this no longer seemed to be the conversation I had prepared for. I had found numerous arguments for having Athenodora's afterlife ended, but it seemed like they would all be unnecessary.

But why? I wouldn't think Aro would let this slide so easily, what was in it for him?

He turned back to me, his face serious and it seemed like he was almost ready to beg.

"And then we have the last, and most pressing, issue. Her open hatred for the human girl who is to marry Marcus. She does not want to accept Bella, and I fear that it might get more dangerous for her as Bella's position will be more important to this coven than Athenodora's ever was."

I was about to laugh out in relief. He was afraid that Athenodora might hurt Bella. He did not know about my secrets. Athenodora had not been here, she had not shown him my thoughts.

"What are you saying, Aro?" I asked, just to be sure that I had understood him correctly.

"I am saying that I think it's time that Athenodora cease to exist in this world, be it as a human or as a vampire. I do not mean to pressure you into this decision, Caius. I am just saying that if you cannot reconcile with her, then I suggest you return to the castle alone."

The relief almost took control of my body, but I knew I couldn't let it show. It was a good thing Aro could consider this as an advice from him, since it would make the next few steps a bit easier to take.

I kept the calm expression on my face.

"Then I will deal with her if I have to, brother. I feel partially guilty for her rude behavior, so I see it as my duty to take care of this."

Aro smiled at me, a smile that wasn't completely filled with emotion, but at least there was some.

"Do not blame yourself, Caius. These things happen, she might not have been meant for this life. Perhaps she, like my sister, was not suited for an existence on the shadowside of life."

That statement made me want to sarcastically mention that his sister hadn't gotten to get used to this existence before he had violently put an end to it. And poor Didyme had never done anything to deserve the final death.

Still I just nodded. I couldn't see a reason to make him reevaluate his decisions.

"Thank you for understanding, Aro."

"Will you need to bring Felix?" he asked. Probably wondering if I would need help to finish her off or not.

I considered this. Felix would end her existence in less than a second, but this was something I wanted to do myself. I didn't care how it made me seem, but I wanted to be the one to end her miserable existence.

"No. Well, he can drive us out of the city and stay behind as backup, but this is something I have to do for myself."

He gave me a dismissive nod, and I backed out of the office.

"Where are you taking me?" Athenodora's usually self-assure voice sounded frightened.

I couldn't resist smiling.

"Darling," I said with fake fondness. "I thought you and I should get away from the city for a while."

I led her down to the garage by a firm grip on her elbow, and I could almost smell the fright coming off her in waves.

"You're not getting away with this, Caius!" she almost shouted, and squirmed to get out of my grip. "Let me go!"

"Aro approved of us going away for a couple of hours, you know, to solve our problems. You see, this is not only our problem anymore, the whole castle seems to have noticed a chill in the air."

I kept the tone as light as possible, knowing we had an audience. Felix was standing by the car, waiting for us to get in.

"You spoke to Aro?" her eyes grew large with disbelief.

I nodded.

"He was concerned that you let your feelings get the best of you, Dora dear. He urged us to fix things to avoid any bigger problems now before the wedding."

She hissed furiously, knowing where this would lead.

"So now you have the permission to get rid of me? You think I will be backing down this easily? You know I am smarter than this! You just can't talk me out of this, I will not lose my throne!"

Felix opened the door, and I forced Athenodora into the car, never letting go of her arm. I didn't answer her until we were safely in the car, speeding away from the curious ears in the castle.

"No, Dora. I am not planning on talking you out of this."

I didn't need to say more, her whole body froze with the shock.

"No. Caius? No!" her voice was begging, her fake affection suddenly flamed back into her eyes, and the purr of her voice was suddenly at my throat.

"Caius? Remember all the good times. Remember how great we were?"

She kissed my neck and I flinched away.

This enraged her all over again.

"You cannot just dispose of me like this!"

Felix glanced back into the backseat, but he had already been informed about what would likely happen. I just hoped he would ignore the things he was about to hear, or at least think that it was because of her desperation or anger.

"This has gone on for too long, Athenodora, and we need to find a solution to this."

I kept my voice steady and my face calm. I wanted this to be over with, I wanted to get back to the girl in the castle. The week without her seemed to pass by slower than I could ever imagine.

"All this because you want Marcus' human?" her sarcastic laughter made me automatically clench my fists. "You know you won't get her just because I'm out of the world? She doesn't seem to like the heartless kind of guys."

I ignored her, though I silently thought of a hundred answers to give her. This was not the time for arguments; this was my chance of ending all the arguments once and for all.

Felix drove down the winding, Italian roads, and ended up at the foot of a cliff. It was a remote place, and at dusk there was almost no chance of being seen. Which was of vital importance for the things that were about to happen here.

I pulled Athenodora with me out of the car.

"Let me go!" she screamed.

I did. There was no need to hold on to her anymore, she knew what was going to happen, and Felix would stop her if she tried to run. She wouldn't get far.

I hesitated. I hadn't killed anyone like this before. Usually they were strangers, and usually they didn't know they were going to die. I had taken pride in making them beg for their lives, watching them tremble in fear as I closed in. But I knew Athenodora wouldn't tremble. It wasn't because she was strong or proud; it was because she was senseless stubborn and never thought her actions through.

"This isn't working out, Dora dear."

She looked like she was ready to jump me, but I knew she had never practiced defense or fighting. It wouldn't take me too long to take her out.

"This isn't working out because I have a moronic husband who has allowed himself to fall for a human girl. A girl who is promised to another vampire at that. You never seem satisfied with what you have; you always have to have the new, shiny toys."

I sighed.

"You are in this only for the power, Dora. And you have never accepted that I have less power than my Brothers. You would have gone to Marcus if you ever got the chance, wouldn't you? You even tried, right after Didyme's death. You stupid woman. He actually loved that girl."

She laughed bitterly.

"I could have given him so much more than her. She was only 16 years old when she got changed, how was she supposed to know what a man needed?"

She smirked and winked at me, obviously trying to get me off my carefully balanced behavior. But her words were of no meaning to me now, this was the end to her manipulation and hatred.

"Didyme loved him back, and I think that would have been enough for Marcus for eternity. Just to know that she did. When she died, he became a different person."

I thought of his cold words and about the closed door between me and Bella. Something had definitely changed him with the loss of his true love, but I wondered what had caused this new behavior. Huge behavioral changes only occurred when the vampire experienced something so strongly that it changed the entire way that vampire viewed the world. Not that I had the time to consider that now. The pressing matter was standing less than six feet away, in a defensive stance.

"Love." Athenodora spat the word like it was venom. "You know as well as me that true love does not exist. It's just chemicals. Bodily reactions to sex. The need for intimacy. Love is overrated."

I shrugged.

"I am not the one to speak about love, seeing as I have been stuck with you for the past centuries, dear."

She hissed.

"Like you're so much better, _darling_."

I smiled a cold, unemotional smile.

"I have never pretended to be anything else than myself. I have never led you on or made you think that you were in for something else than you ended up with. You wanted power, you got power. That was all."

She almost shook with anger.

"What are you waiting for then? Aren't you going to kill me? Isn't that why you have dragged me to this place?"

I looked at her defensive pose, but I couldn't trace the fear anymore. There was only pure hatred and unjustified pride. There was no hint of her even trying to save her life, and that was what made me leap into the air and rip the head off her shoulders.

On the way back I waited for a different reaction than relief, but that was the only thing I could feel. Nothing else. No joy, no grief, no anger. Only the relief that had allowed to settle after I got permission to get rid of Athenodora.

"Are you alright, Master?" Felix asked with a blank expression in the mirror.

"Of course I am, Felix." I flashed him a smile. "Things are going to be a lot calmer at the castle from now on, don't you think?"

He laughed, and I could see that he too had been happy to get rid of all the drama that seemed to orbit around my recently diseased wife.

"We will see how long this can last, Master. The wedding is bound to make a lot of trouble around the castle, I mean, with the guests, the announcement, and the preparations. And signora Bella will need to make her official appearance soon, that's definitely bound to cause a lot of drama with the females."

The uneasy knot had returned to my stomach as I realized that another week had passed, and we were unbearably close to the wedding. Things would start to happen soon, and I would have to set my plan into motion before things went too far.

As we crossed the border to the city I told Felix to pull over and let me out. He did, but with a puzzled look on his face. Vampires do not need to work through things like this the same way that some humans do, so there was no reason for me to walk to clear my head. And obviously I was not allowed to hunt within the city walls.

Still, he was trained to not ask questions, and I stepped out of the car without answering the one lingering in the air.

"Thank you, Felix." I said before closing the door.

"It's my job, Master."

He drove up to the castle as I followed the narrow streets through the least walked places in the city, avoiding any possible person or vampire that might wander around at night.

Climbing the wall was something I could do with both eyes closed, and the guards would be occupied with the news of their queen's sudden departure. I wondered briefly what Aro would tell them, but decided that I really didn't care. Even the purple smoke would have ceased to exist now.

Her window was open, and I could hear the heartbeats of a person who clearly wasn't asleep. I smiled, shook my head, and jumped …

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**As I have rediscovered the joy of writing, I really hope to be able to write more. It's a nice break from school, work and reality. I hope you will stay and read. And tell me if there's any interest for me to go back to my blog and give short updates now and then. I will if there is. (I deleted my twitter, so my blog will have to do.)**

**J.**


	9. The jump

**I think most of you will like this chapter. At least I hope so. I also got back to Intentions, and will try my best to update both stories semi-regularly. This story will be my main priority though, because it still gives me the most inspiration of the two.**

**As always, the twilight universe and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. **

**J.**

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"Did you wait up for me?"

She was sitting in the chair by the window, reading a book. She hadn't even noticed when I had appeared in her window, too lost in her own thoughts and the words on the pages. Now she practically jumped up, startled by my voice.

"No.. I.. Um."

Her cheeks blushed red as she searched her mind for an excuse for the late night reading.

"The nights and days don't really mean much anymore." She said, and I could hear that this wasn't an outright lie. "I mean, as long as I don't have something to do in the daytime, it's easy to sit up at night instead of getting up early."

I nodded, as if to show her that I understood what she meant. She looked more awake than she had the last time, something that told me that she might actually have turned her days. She was wearing normal clothes as well; jeans and a deep-blue long-sleeved sweater that made the mahogany hair sparkle with a pretty red when the light hit it right.

"I am glad to see you up though."

She smiled a shy smile and put the book down on the floor before she got up and walked over to her bed. I figured this was to free the chair so I could sit, and I did so. After all, I had to be sure that I acted as close to normal as possible. This was a game, and I would have to be the best player.

"I hoped you would return, actually."

I smiled at this revelation, partly because this was expected, partly because I felt like it. I wouldn't examine the feeling further; it was a useful feeling after all.

"Are the others still acting unnaturally in front of you?" I asked in something that I hoped would sound like a considerate and worried voice.

She nodded and tucked some of her long, thick hair behind her ear.

"It seems like people here are used to treat you guys like royalty. And not in the modern sense of it, people seem to fear me. It's irrational, I'm just a human. I'm weaker."

I chuckled darkly.

"You are not weaker than them, Bella. You are under the protection of Marcus, which means that you are so much more important than anyone else in this castle right now. Well, besides Sulpicia that is."

I figured she would still be outranked by Aro's wife, even if she was the new love interest of the silent and powerful Marcus.

She cocked her head to the side.

"More important than your wife? I thought she would also be considered a queen here?"

I tried not to grin as I thought of my newly acquired freedom.

"My wife is no longer a part of life here." I said trying to keep the joy from leaking into my voice.

She raised an eyebrow in wonder at the information.

"No longer a part of life here?"

I shook my head, wondering how to explain without making it seem like I was the one to have her life terminated.

"She was considered a threat to you, and therefore she could no longer stay with us."

It took a few seconds, but then her eyes widened as she understood the meaning behind my words.

"It's my fault that she is gone?" she gasped. "Is she.. did they..?"

Her voice trailed off in a question, and I silently nodded in answer. She could know parts of the truth, that wouldn't hurt her. Her guilt might even prove to be helpful for me.

"But my mourning was short." I told her. "My wife was not the kindest woman. She had more dark sides than lovable ones. She might be better off not having to live like this."

Bella looked like she was about to get up and walk over to me when I said these words. She was not frightened like she would have been if she knew that it was I who had ripped Athenodora's head off her body. But she wouldn't get to know that. At least not while it could be hurtful for my attempts to gain her trust.

"I am sorry." She said in a quiet voice.

I tried for something I hoped would look like a sad smile, but I had to make it short since I was sure too much of the joy I felt would shine through if I kept smiling.

"You don't have to be sorry. You are not the one to blame for her actions, and you are not the one to stand responsible for taking her punishment. This was her own fault."

She looked down at the floor, as she still blamed herself for me losing my wife. I didn't mind it, as long as she felt she owed me something she might actually be easier to manipulate for my own gain. I quickly tried to find a way to make this conversation benefit me.

"Anyway, my wife was never my true love. It was purely beneficial for us to be together, and therefore we decided it was in everyone's interest that we got married. I got my wife, and she got her power and her throne."

It wasn't too far from the actual truth. Athenodora and I had gotten married simply because that seemed as the best choice at the time, we had never loved each other. I had changed the reality a bit though, Athenodora had been in love with me at the time. at least she had thought she was. I had even known this, and still taken advantage of the girl. But that was my nature; I would always be manipulative and I would always put me in front of others.

I gave Bella another shy smile.

"And I really think that everyone deserve a chance to find true love, don't you?"

She flinched at my words, remembering what she had considered her one true love, and how he had been ripped to pieces in front of her eyes. She had been so close to saving him. At least that's what she thought.

"But she shouldn't have to die for you to look for true love?" she countered.

I looked down.

"Whenever I talked to her about it, she would threaten to kill whoever I found. I simply stopped thinking it was possible to find someone else, I thought I would have to be with Athenodora till the day I ceased to exist on this world."

I watched her as the words made their effect on her. I knew it would pain her to think someone hadn't had a chance to find true love, and therefore I knew that she would pity me. She might even blame my earlier attitude to the fact that I was scared of getting too close to another woman.

The pity filled her eyes, and she opened and closed her mouth as if she was on the verge of saying something. I decided to interrupt her, no need to continue to talk about this.

"But Bella," I started, my voice with the right amount of sorrow. "can we please talk about something else? I feel like this is not the right subject for this night, I don't think we should talk about something that would make us both sadder."

She nodded in agreement.

We sat there in silence for a while, her looking at the hands folded in her lap, me looking at her. I once again wished I had Aro's power; that I could tap into her thoughts and understand what she was thinking.

"What are you thinking?"

The question took me by surprise.

"Actually, I was wondering what you were thinking about."

She blushed again, and the smell of her blood filled the room. She looked so frail, like it would only take a huff and a puff to blow her over. Break her. Even though she had more than proven she was stronger than any of us would have guessed.

Her cheeks had still gotten that lively red tone whenever she got embarrassed and her beating heart proved her mortality more than anything else.

My head filled with the pictures of her closing her eyes, moaning. The red on her cheeks not from embarrassment, rather…

"Nothing special." She interrupted.

I could have sighed out in relief, since I really didn't need those thoughts with her in the same room as me. I would have to play by the rules; otherwise I would be sure to lose

I smiled at her.

"I think about the summer." I said. "Volterra is a beautiful place in the summertime. The tourists come from all over the world, the air is scented with different flowers, spices, perfumes. I think you will learn to appreciate it."

I saw her worried expression before she had a chance to reply.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"It's summertime already."

Even though I knew time passed slower for humans than for us, I also knew that these months in this room must have been more trying for her than anyone could have guessed. She was always trying to be stronger than she was, and that had not been the right way to gain respect here. The strong ones would always be seen as a threat.

"Yes." I answered. "Is there something wrong with the summer?"

A single tear ran down her cheek, and she hastily wiped it away.

"I should be graduating high school, I should be partying with my friends, I should be saying goodbye to my dad." Her voice hitched as she continued. "I should have found a college I wanted to attend. I should have been moving to a new place, started a life for my own."

In a haze I walked over to the bed and put an arm around the crying girl. She stopped shaking, and looked up at me with a surprised look I was sure that I mirrored.

Why had I done that? This was not what I had meant to do, was it?

The embarrassing silence forced the flush back on her cheeks, and she seemed to have lost the ability to speak. My arm felt numb. I didn't know how to move it, I didn't even know if I wanted to move it. I just sat there, looking as surprised as the girl.

Her huge brown eyes seemed to draw me in, and I couldn't seem to find a single coherent thought as I felt her warm breath caressing my skin. I could feel the warmth radiating through her sweater, running like electricity over my skin on my arm and on my side.

I forced myself to look away, letting my eyes fly over the room till I fastened my gaze on the bow on her shoe.

I couldn't find something to say. My mind seemed to have blanked out, fallen apart, shattered into a million pieces that no longer fit into a pattern. At least she was almost as quiet as me, only her breathing and her heartbeats kept the room from being completely silent.

"Do you want to get out of here?" I suddenly asked.

I dared to let my eyes meet hers again, in time to see them widen in surprise. She looked to the door.

"I think I'm being guarded." She said with a sad tone in her voice.

I smiled and looked to the window.

"Not exactly what I was thinking about."

I got up and lifted her off the bed before she, or I for that matter, had time to think about it.

"Is this ok?" I asked as her arms fastened around my neck.

Her heart was beating so hard that the air around her pulsed with the heartbeats. Her body radiated heat, and it felt like my whole body was tingling from electricity. I barely paid enough notice to catch the slight nod of her head.

I hoped and prayed that there wouldn't be anyone outside, that the guards still would be occupied. Besides, with Athenodora gone, who would expect Bella to get vampire visitors in the middle of the night?

We hit the ground with a quiet thud. I looked at Bella's face, her eyes were shut and her face almost pressed into my shirt. I stopped just a bit too long, and I could feel her start to move her head up towards me. I quickly tore my eyes away, forcing my feet to move.

"Hang on." I said as I jumped towards the tree, reached out with one hand and flung us towards the wall.

Everything was completely dark, and I knew Bella wouldn't see much with her human eyes. I let us carefully down on the other side of the wall, and ran through the quiet streets to get to the marketplace. It would naturally be empty and quiet there as well, but at least Bella would get a chance to see the city through the eyes of a human.

I let her down a couple of hundred meters before we got to the center of the city, it would look pretty weird if a man just happened to appear out of thin air with a girl in his arms. And there was no way I would carry her in a normal pace the rest of the way. Of course, she was as light as feathers to me, but it was too intimate; the electricity of her warmth and the scent of her blood had already caused a dry ache in the back of my throat.

She swayed, and I steadied her with my hand.

"Careful there."

She blushed, and I lent her my elbow for support.

"Where are we?" she asked, looking around and the dimly lit street.

"Nowhere." I answered. "We're heading down to the marketplace, that's where you'd want to be on a summer day."

I hadn't been outside the castle in daytime for a long time, but I could still remember the thrill of walking among the humans. The sounds and smells that surrounded me, the attention I brought on myself by wandering around in my dark cloak.

"Won't they notice I'm gone?" She asked with a scared voice.

"Probably."

I hadn't really thought this through, and I had realized that this might not be a good idea after all. It was too late to turn around now, so we might as well have fun as long as we could.

"Do you want to go back?" I asked her.

She shook her head violently, almost making her trip again.

"Then it's settled." I said. "We're not going back yet. Relax, it's not like they'll kill you."

She laughed, and it eased some of the tension that had built up since I placed my arm around her in the bedroom.

"They didn't tell me that I couldn't see you." She said with a teasing tone. "You were the one who was forbidden to see me."

I had to smile at her reasoning.

"Well, I don't think I need to fear for my life. As long as you're not planning to tell them I was kidnapping you?"

"Weren't you?" she mocked.

I pushed her gently to the side, causing her to almost fall again. She laughed so loudly that I was sure windows above us would open at any minutes, letting angry Italian curses rain over us. I didn't really care, they were used to teenagers walking around at night.

"If I wanted to kidnap you I would take you further away than the marketplace."

She looked up at me, the moon reflecting in her eyes.

"Where would you take me?" she asked without humor in her voice.

I looked up at the star-filled sky.

"I would take you north." I said. "A place where you could see the northern lights play across the sky."

"Sounds cold." She said with a shudder.

"It would definitely be colder than the summer in Italy." I said with a laugh. "But trust me, there's nothing as beautiful as the northern lights."

When I looked down again I could see that she was still looking at me, with wonder this time.

"What?" I asked her.

She shook her head lightly.

"Nothing." She smiled and looked ahead instead.

We walked into the large open space, and Bella let go of my arm now that the light made it easier to see where she was going. She spun around, looked at the old houses and the fountain. It would look much more impressing in the daylight, but this was all I could give her.

"It's beautiful." She breathed while taking in the old stone buildings, the statues and the fountain.

"It gets a different atmosphere when it's filled with people and life."

She didn't reply, instead she headed towards the statue of a beautiful woman. Of course she would seek out that particular statue among all the others. Her hair was long, and even in the stone it seemed to move gracefully passed her shoulders. Her eyes were sad, fixed on something ours couldn't see.

"Who is this?" she asked.

I reluctantly walked over.

"That's Didyme."

She was silent for a second before she remembered the name.

"Marcus' wife?"

I nodded.

"She was known for her kindness even before she became a vampire. They took her everlasting youth as a sign that she was special. When she disappeared from the city they carved this statue."

That had been one of Aro's problems; the fact that his sister refused to silently disappear from her life. She had clung to it even after her change, making some people suspicious, while others started to worship her.

Bella touched the cold stone, and looked at the face carved in stone.

"Why did they make her look so sad?" she asked.

I smiled, I'd always found this part ridiculous.

"The statue is waiting for Didyme to return. The people noticed she didn't age, and therefore she had to be a saint or an angel. Either way, they thought she might return some day. No one really remember her story anymore though, and it's just another statue."

Marcus would never stop waiting though, he would never let go of his true love. And it hurt him more with every passing day.

I looked at the human girl, wondering why he had chosen to marry her. She would not be right for him, he had to know that. She would only be another member of the Volturi, and she would be just as lonely as him. It was not right.

Bella suddenly yawned, and I realized that she might not have turned her days completely after all.

"We should head back to the castle."

She looked at me with a disappointed expression, and I had to smile. This was working out better than I could have imagined.

"But I haven't been out since you guys locked me up in that room.."

I stopped her before she could complain more.

"And now, you have to go back, or else you might fall asleep standing."

She sighed, and I quickly lifted her off the ground and ran towards the castle, not wanting to start a discussion. This way I would be back at the castle before she had a chance to come up with another reason for her to stay out.

I knew they probably would have discovered that she was gone by now, since they would check up on her regularly when they knew she was awake, but I couldn't bring myself to worry. I would bring her back through the main doors, and they would see that she was safe and unharmed. Most importantly; Marcus would see it.

"Are you crazy?" she whispered as we walked through the doors.

"No, not at all." I said before I greeted the shocked Gianna.

I turned down the hallway where her room was, and looked at the stunned vampires turning their heads as I marched down with Bella in my arms. Her heart was beating desperately, and I wondered if she was scared for me or for herself.

"Caius!"

The voice belonged to my brother, and I turned to face him.

"Where on earth have you been?" he hissed.

I shrugged, making the girl in my arms tighten her grip around my neck.

"Just down to the marketplace, I thought it would do her good to stretch her legs."

His expression was priceless, and I turned back to my goal to keep from laughing. I walked up to her door and placed her down on the floor. She quickly folded her arms over her chest and took a step back.

"I.. Thank you." She mumbled as she looked up into my eyes. "I had fun."

I laughed and bowed, and I could hear Marcus growling behind me.

"I will see you later, Bella." I said as I took her right hand and kissed it.

She blushed and quickly walked into her room, closing the door behind her.

I kept going down the hallway, knowing that they wouldn't follow me now. There would be consequences though. There were always consequences.

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**I think there was a reviewer who said Caius should jump out of the window with Bella in his arms.. Guess the person didn't know how right they would be. The second part of the story is started, and there will be more drama to come;)**

**J.**


	10. The truth and the lies

**Yeah. VERY late, as always. I had plans to get this up earlier this month, you know.. the tenth chapter uploaded 10.10.10?:p But there's been so much stress that I'm actually relieved to get it up today. Between school, work and my social life I don't even find the time to breathe. Writing is a real lifesaver. **

**As always; Stephenie Meyer created the Twilight universe, its characters and the storyline leading up to A Castle of Ice. **

**J.**

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"What were you thinking, Caius?"

There was thunder in Marcus' voice, something that I hadn't heard in centuries. He was pacing back and forth over the floor, not concentrating enough to get the floating motions he usually had. His steps echoed in the empty room.

"I thought that someone ought to take that girl out of the castle before she got mad. Some things even vampire venom can't fix."

I was leaning against the wall, my arms folded across my chest. I had known that he would make a big deal out of this. I had even anticipated something worse than a scolding. He hadn't even gone to rat me out to Aro yet, but I knew the word would get there sooner or later.

"She's my fiancée, Caius!"

I laughed. As if he really cared where she were. He didn't even love her, why should he care if I took her out to show her the real world?

"She's not your fiancée of her own choice, brother. You might want to remember that."

The growl that started in his chest almost made me laugh again. Weren't he awfully possessive for a man who didn't care about the girl he was about to marry? Seriously, I had brought her back in perfect shape.

"I know what you're up to." he said, his eyes shooting another murderous glare at me.

"And what is that?" I asked.

"You want her to refuse to marry me. You're trying to get her to prefer you to me. Hell, you even killed your own wife because you want to make my life miserable. Tell me, is it worth it?"

I raised my eyebrows, I couldn't see the need to get worked up because of his accusations.

"I didn't kill my wife because I want to make your life miserable; I killed her because _I_ didn't want to be miserable. There might not be that much difference, but the way one put it makes my reason sound better."

He started pacing back and forth again, I could almost see the anger coming off of him in waves.

"You need to understand that you can't have everything you want, brother." He said in a calmer voice. "She is to be married to me, and I actually intend to take her as my wife. This is not a game to me."

I rolled my eyes.

"Yes. You want to marry the poor, reluctant human because we killed her one, true love and she's alone in this big scary world. Who does she remind you of, Marcus?"

I didn't even have time to think before I was pinned to the wall behind me. I knew I would be able to fight him off if necessary, but right now I didn't see the point. He wouldn't hurt me, it was peace-loving St. Marcus after all.

"She needs someone who will know what she's going through. She will need someone who takes her seriously. She will need someone who will be able to support her through the lonely centuries here."

I shoved him away from me.

"Just because you're not able to realize that Didyme isn't coming back doesn't mean that she won't be able to let go off her Edward. Have you even considered that you were a vampire when Didyme died? Bella is a human, and when she is turned, her world will get a new start. We don't even have memories from our human lives, Marcus, and I doubt things will be different for her."

Even I could hear the anger in my voice, but I didn't care. Who was he to tell Bella that she would never get over the loss of her boyfriend? Didn't she have enough to go through with having her whole life ripped away from her?

Marcus looked at me with disbelief.

"You're not going to back down, are you?"

I shrugged.

"I am not leaving her alone with everyone else. She feels like she's being isolated, and I have grown to think that the queen to be should be treated a little better than that."

He clenched his fists.

"We told you that you were to stay away from her! Nothing good can come of this."

I grinned.

"Well, you know what they say. You don't want something until you can't have it."

He straightened up again and relaxed his hands.

"Well. I guess it doesn't matter. With less than two weeks till the wedding, I'm sure that you won't be able to do too much damage."

"Two weeks." I mumbled.

The information made me feel so restless that I had trouble standing still. I wanted to run, to find Bella, to take her away from this place. I wanted to make sure that I had time to win. Two weeks would not be enough. Not nearly.

"I told you that you couldn't win, Caius." Marcus said with a smirk. "She is mine. And I am not giving her up."

I scowled at him. I knew it was childish, but at that moment I felt like a child who was told that he would not get his favorite toy back, simply because he had played too much with it.

"Well. At least she'll be pretty upset if I can't see her again. Good luck with that one." I said as I turned to walk out of the room.

"Oh." Marcus said with a smile in his voice. "You'll see her again."

I froze. I didn't understand why his voice would sound so content if it involved me seeing Bella.

"You have to explain to her why you're not coming back to visit her. You have to tell her why you don't want to see her anymore."

I turned around in disbelief.

"What?"

He smiled.

"Well. I can't have more of you running around with her. So I have decided that she will be moving into my quarters a little earlier than planned. And before she does so, I want you to tell her why you won't be able to visit her anymore. I want you to tell her that you've gotten bored of her."

"But I haven't."

He shrugged.

"Do you think she'll know the difference? All I know is that the bond she has tied to you is a little stronger than I like it to be. I need you to break it."

Was he insane? There was no way I would willingly do what he asked of me. I would not break the girl's heart one more time.

"Of course." He continued after a glance at my puzzled face. "I guess we could do it the hard way. You don't think you'll actually be allowed to see her again if you don't agree to my terms?"

I imagined how he would tell Bella that I wouldn't come back. I imagined how she would wait for me to jump through her window, only to realize that I'd never come. Perhaps she would seek comfort in Marcus.

"And your terms are for me to just march in, tell her I don't want to see her again, and leave?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Of course you'll get to see her again when she has become a vampire. When my venom is floating around in her veins."

_Mine!_

The thought flew through my mind, and I had no way to control it. I felt it in every dead cell in my body; Bella was mine. The thought of Marcus' venom in her veins made me almost shake with anger.

Marcus laughed.

"You're too easy to upset, brother. Your short temper will be the death of you one day."

I didn't answer, barely keeping myself in check as it was.

"So." Marcus began when he realized I wasn't answering. "Will you go and tell Bella, or shall I?"

I turned around, fighting the urge to mutter profanities and hit the nearest breakable object in the room, but I had to think. I needed to be sure that I had a loophole, that there would be some way I could get around the new orders. There had to be.

"Remember, Caius." Marcus' voice flew through the hall, with the ghostly effect that would make the hairs rise on the arms of a human. "I will be listening."

I had already guessed as much, and that was why I didn't run to Bella immediately. If I did, I would have to just stick to the manuscript Marcus had told me to use. I would still have to do that, but I also had to find a way to tell the truth without being dragged from the room mid-sentence.

I walked aimlessly thought the castle, wasting precious minutes on plotting the best revenge possible, though I knew that there was no way revenge would change anything. He was fixed on isolating the girl again, and for what? It certainly couldn't be good for her, she was lonely enough as it was.

I wound up in front of my study, and with nowhere else to go, I walked in. The room hadn't been much used in the last weeks, it had just served as an alibi of sorts. Everything was where it was supposed to be, the heavy books standing in the right order on the bookshelf, the quills and pens lined up on my desk.

I grabbed a pen, testing it on the paper. The thick, black ink was a little runny, but at least the pen made almost no sound where it moved across the paper. Too much noise, of course, but I had an idea.

I put the pen in my pocket, walking hastily out of the room. I tried to minimize the guilty glances around at everyone I passed, hoping that Marcus wouldn't stop me to check my pockets before I was sent into her room.

"Going somewhere?" Aro's voice froze me in place.

I turned around to see his calm expression. He only had two expressions; the cold calm one, and an excited one.

"I heard you took the liberty of taking the human fieldtripping?" he asked, the little excited glance sparkling in his eyes.

I shrugged, no need to deny it.

"I thought she ought to see something else than the four walls of her room."

He laughed.

"You're probably right." he winked. "Don't tell Marcus I said that though, he seems to have become a little too protective of the human. More than I would like anyway."

I raised my eyebrows. Aro had given him the girl on a silver platter, and he couldn't see why Marcus had gotten protective of her? He had killed his own sister, wasn't that reason enough to keep any girl away from him? Still, I couldn't help agreeing.

"Yes. It seems like he is determined to shield her from the rest of the world, just like he's doing himself."

Aro didn't say anything, he just stood there, looking at me.

"Well." I said, eager to get away from the stare. "I should get going. I am on my way to apologize to the human for kidnapping her yesterday."

Aro laughed.

"Never thought you would apologize for something so trivial, brother."

I smiled at him.

"Neither did I, but I have been given clear orders."

Aro seemed amused by my words. He waved me on.

"Marcus is clearly devoted to the girl." He mused as I walked passed him.

Devoted was not the right word. He was overprotective. He would strangle her with his devotion if he got the chance.

The halls echoed from my hastened footsteps, and I wound up at the now heavily guarded door. Gritting my teeth, I stopped in front of Felix, who after giving me a pitying glance moved to the side and let me through.

She was pacing back and forth, perhaps she had picked up something in the air, the mood was tense enough to cut it with a knife.

"Are you alright?" she asked as she came towards me.

Before I opened my mouth to respond she had her arms around my waist. I tensed, not expecting this show of affection. I cleared my throat, and she jumped back.

"I am perfectly fine." I said with something that was supposed to resemble a smile on my face.

She frowned though, and I knew it would be hopeless to try to hide anything from her. Instead of trying to put on a show for her as well, I started the explanation Marcus had wanted me to give her.

"Bella." I said in my most serious voice. "These past months have been great fun."

I fished the pen out of my pocket and pulled my jacket off, rolling the sleeve of the sweater up as far as it would go.

'_Play along._' I wrote on my arm with small letters.

"But I have come to realize that this isn't working out for me anymore. You're boring."

'_Marcus must think you believe what I'm saying.' _

The black ink made a sharp contrast to my pale skin, so I knew she would be able to read every word. I looked up at her startled expression, waiting for her to react. She didn't though, and I rolled my eyes at her and continued.

"You see, you're just a human after all. And I shouldn't keep playing these games with your head. You might get hurt, and that would upset my brother."

'_He doesn't like sharing his toys.'_ I wrote on my arm, in explanation to why I was doing this.

"So what are you saying?" she asked, a bit breathless.

"I won't be coming back to see you. I mean, why would we waste time on that? There are so many more interesting and important matters to tend to, and I just can't afford to spend more time on a simple human."

"So you won't come back to see me? Not ever?"

Her acting wasn't the best I had seen, but at least Marcus wasn't listening. He would only hear this through the guards.

"No. That's what I said. I don't see why I should make time to see you. It's nothing personal; it's just a race ting."

'_I'll be back at the first chance, though I'm not sure when that will be.'_

"Why are you doing this to me?" she asked, taking the act a little further than I had expected. Still, every minute more would be a plus at the moment.

"Would you prefer if I had killed you the first time I had the chance? Believe me, I considered the option. And I have always been honest with you; you're nothing but a living, breathing human."

I spat out the last word as if it was an insult, but I felt wrong doing it. It stung somehow.

"Then why have you even spent any time with me at all?"

Her voice was angrier now, but I could see that she didn't have the emotions she pretended to have.

I chuckled darkly, like I would have in any other setting.

"You were something to pass the time, doll. Something to entertain myself with, something to laugh at."

'_Tears'_. The word formed in black ink on my lower arm, hoping that she would be able to cry on demand.

She bit her lower lip as she concentrated, her red lips parting slightly as she achieved her goal. A single drop of saltwater escaped the corner of her eye.

"But I promise you that I won't do this to you again. You don't have to see me for years if you don't want to."

Her tears suddenly ran more freely, filling the air with the fresh scent of the salt liquid. Nothing would be more convincing than a swollen, sad face when Marcus returned after my departure. I smiled at her, feeling the urge to stretch my hand out and capture one of the glittering tears on my finger. Instead I placed the pen back on my skin.

'_Don't worry; you'll be able to walk more freely around now. And I promise you that I'll find a way.'_

I felt the truthfulness of the last statement as I finished the last word. I would find a way, I would have to.

"They tell me I will almost start over when I change, perhaps I will be able to forgive you when I do."

Her voice was cold, but her eyes were still burning somehow, with an emotion I wasn't able to identify. An intense feeling, almost like a longing.

I chuckled darkly again, but somewhere inside me I could feel something shattering when her dark, brown gaze met mine.

"Yeah. Come find me if you do. Perhaps we can catch up when you're less.. pathetic."

I looked at the streams of tears that never seemed to stop, and realized that there was something missing.

I grabbed her by the shoulders and pressed my lips urgently, but soft against hers. It didn't even last for a second, and then I pulled back and let her go. The tears had stopped immediately, but it would do the trick. Her face was bright red, and she would look angry as hell to anyone who hadn't seen me kissing her.

I pulled the sleeve of my sweater back over the words on my arm and put the pen back in the pocket of my jacket.

"I'll see you around, I guess."

I turned around and walked to the door, forcing myself not to lock back at her again. She was quiet now, not saying a word, only breathing in short, shallow breaths.

I stopped by the door for a fraction of a second, collecting myself, before I turned the knob and marched out. Making sure that the stream of curses was audible enough for the guards to hear.

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**You all knew Caius was a drama queen; it didn't come as a huge shock that he would do something like that. New chapter as soon as I get the chance. Thank you for still reading though I don't have time to update often, you're really the best.^^**

**J.**


	11. The whisper

**A new chapter for my wonderful readers! Thank you for the response to the last chapter! 45 reviews per chapter? You're simply awesome! **

**I won't keep you any longer, read on!**

**(As always; Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer.)**

**J.**

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I drummed my fingers restlessly on the armrest of my chair, staring unblinkingly at Marcus. The faint smile that never seemed to leave his face was taunting me, and I felt more like jumping up and claw his eyes out than to welcome the guests to the wedding. The ceremony was a week away, but already the most important guests were arriving. The most powerful covens from around the world were invited to witness Master Marcus marry what Aro had described as the most powerful human he had ever met. Bella was already a superstar in the vampire world, even though she hadn't been introduced to it properly. No one even knew her name.

"I am glad you could come."

Aro was busy greeting the new guests, an Asian couple in their human thirties, wearing expensive clothing and far too much jewelry. Of course they wouldn't really need it, they were beautiful, like all vampires were. At least the successful and the popular, it's really not that different from the human world.

"And I hope you will be attending the masquerade tomorrow night?"

Aro's eyes shone with excitement as he mentioned the masquerade. I fought the urge to roll my eyes and sigh, but somewhere inside I knew I looked forward to it as well. It wasn't one of the normal occasions this time, it wasn't some lame made-up reason for Aro to count the heads of the other countries. This party was to introduce Marcus' new wife. Bella would be there.

It was foolish, I knew that. Even Aro and Marcus could see the danger of introducing her already, but if she was to be married to him, she had to be introduced first. And since their agreement was to change her after the wedding, the introduction would be made while she was a human.

Lost in my own thoughts, I had missed the excited reply from the Asian couple. I sighed as I saw Aro take his seat again.

"How many more are there today?"

"Only a couple, Caius."

Marcus' voice made my knuckles clench, and I could hear the cracking of wood from one of the armrests.

I looked up to see the grin on Marcus' face.

"What's gotten you in such a foul mood, brother?"

I got up and started for the door.

"You can't leave." Aro's voice sounded bored and uninterested. "More guests will arrive shortly. It's important that we stand as a united front."

This time I _did_ roll my eyes. Aro was too afraid to lose the position as the most influential and important coven in the world, so he couldn't risk it seeming like we had problems within our castle. That was why he hadn't invited the Cullens. Well, that and because he couldn't let them into the castle while Bella was human. It was simply too dangerous while her memory of them was so fond and strong. I doubted even her fascination of me could overpower that one.

I turned and walked back to the throne, looking at the crack I had made in the wood. It wasn't that bad. I took off my black cloak and placed it over the armrest, concealing the damage.

"And when will these other visitors arrive, brother?"

I tried my best to keep a calm and unaffected voice, even though I wanted to scream that I couldn't take this anymore. I didn't want to sit here next to Marcus while he constantly reminded me of what I didn't have.

"Soon, Caius." Aro answered with patience.

"What?" Marcus asked. "Do you have places to be? People to see?"

I forced myself not to snap back at him, ignoring him was probably the most childish thing I could do, but at least it was something. We sat there in complete silence again, only greeting the occasional guest now and then. When the light of dawn finally shone through the windows in the ceiling I got up and practically ran out of the room. They didn't try to stop me or slow me down this time.

The castle was filled with voices now, no one cared to keep their voices down, what's the point if everyone could hear you anyway?

"_I heard that she was involved with the Cullen coven in America."_ A heavily accented voice said from somewhere above me.

"_No, that can't be right."_ Another one replied. _"I heard that they stole her from the Romanian coven, haven't you wondered why no one is here to represent them?"_

I snorted at the theory. We had defeated the Romanian coven a long time ago, and even if we had issued an invitation I doubted they would have come. They were extremely good at keeping grudges. The vampire wars were often short and with a definitive loss on one of the sides. Often entire covens were wiped out. I had always thought we had been too kind by letting the Romanians live, though they had insisted it was a cruel thing to do since we had killed their wives.

"_I heard that the Cullens aren't invited."_ The other one insisted_. "Don't you find it strange that Carlisle isn't here? I mean, no one has ever been that close to become a fourth member of the Volturi."_

Whoever that person was, she was far too smart for her own good. Not that I minded, I didn't care who found out by now. It might actually be easier for me if we had people come to collect Bella.

I imagined how the reactions would be if a human who belonged to someone else was found being held hostage by us. It would surely cause a lot of problems for us. The law was tricky there; it said that no human could know about us. That would usually cause the execution of the human and the vampire keeping it. But it also said that if the vampire had intentions of changing the human…

Still. Edward had threatened to expose us to the human world, and therefore he had let his claim on the human go. She was fair game now, and at least we hadn't killed her. We were offering her a place with us, even at the throne. She would be important, loved and feared in the vampire world.

And on the part of Carlisle becoming one of us? As if! Carlisle had been allowed to watch us rule the world, but there was no way he had been let in on the most treasured secrets. Aro had found him fascinated, the plaything of the decade so to speak. The way Carlisle had been able to resist human blood completely had been a mystery to him, and he had often tried to convince Carlisle that this was the best way of living. He had lost interest as soon as he realized Carlisle couldn't be convinced.

In reality Aro was a difficult man to fascinate, and a dangerous one when he didn't get his will. I should thank my lucky stars that he'd actually loved the way I always fought back whenever I wanted to. I didn't have a power for him to be fascinated with. Perhaps he would get tired of me too one day, but if he did, I would make sure that I would be ready. He would not dispose of me like he did anyone else.

The halls were being decorated for the masquerade the following night, new candles, black silk curtains were put up by the windows, and one of the walls in the ballroom had gotten a mirror-wall for the occasion. I watched the humans who had been hired to do the job, pitying them that their efforts would be wasted. Not for us of course, but they wouldn't get paid. No one could live after seeing this much of the castle.

We didn't always eat the help, only when we had to prepare for large gatherings like this. Otherwise we would put our own guards to work. But with this many visitors we had to make sure there would be extra security as well.

I ran into Heidi as I rounded a corner. Her eyes violet, the result of the contact lenses after the vampire poison had worked on them for some time.

"Been hunting?" I asked.

She smiled. Heidi had to be the only vampire in the castle not scared of us.

"Someone has to put food on the table."

I laughed.

"Was it a good night?" I asked, trying to kill some time as I had nowhere I wanted to go.

She shrugged.

"Not really, only a couple of newlyweds and a family of five. They're unconscious in the dungeons."

The dungeons weren't the stereotypical wet, dark and smelly dungeons. They were almost as good as our guestrooms, and were cleaned regularly, a necessity as we often fed there. Usually they were knocked out with drugs or force and left there for us to feed on whenever we wanted. The exceptions were when large groups of tourists were lured into the castle at the same time, that made it possible for us to feed in the throne room, both the guards and us.

I considered the ache in my throat, realizing that it had been a week since the last feeding, that I had to feed before the masquerade if I wanted to be able to seem normal.

"I think I'll stop by there then."

She smiled.

"The youngest woman is alone in the room, so is one of the teenagers of the family. I'll be able to trick more in tonight before the party."

She winked at me before she continued on her way to her chambers.

I continued down the hall, and down to the lower part of the castle. It was colder here, but I knew that the rooms where our "visitors" were staying would be comfortably warm. I took the key by the first door, the scent of the fresh and floral perfume had given the young woman away.

She was lying on the bed, seemingly sleeping. She was unharmed, not a scratch on her light skin. Her long blond hair was a perfect backdrop for the small, but pretty face. Her lips were parted slightly, and her pink lipstick seemed to be fading. The white, lacy, summer dress was wrinkled and had wiggled to her mid-thighs.

I could feel the air getting slightly warmer as I walked towards the bed, and the scent of blood was already making the venom fill my mouth. I touched her arm, feeling the pulse beneath my fingers. It was steady and calm, not racing; not excited or scared.

I sighed and sat down on the bed. She was beautiful, but her frail skin, her weak, beating heart and her addiction to oxygen made her a lesser being. A worthless being. Food.

I considered waking her, playing with her before I ate. I had always found joy in doing that, but now it felt more like wasted time. She was only here because I had to eat, and suddenly I couldn't seem to find the joy in torturing her before I drank her blood.

I lifted her unmoving body onto my lap, my left hand under her neck to make sure that her head fell back. I knew she would most likely wake up from the pain of the bite, but I would snap her neck as soon as she did, I didn't want to hear her scream. I let my tongue trace over her neck, finding the spot where the artery would be closest to the skin. Then I took a deep breath, not even sure why I felt the urge inhale. And then I bit.

I licked my lips as I exited the room, making sure that not a drop of the crimson blood was wasted, and then I turned back towards the voices in the floors above me. They were done discussing Bella by now, and the conversation mainly focused on me. I groaned as I understood why I suddenly had become the center of attention, hearing Athenodora's name. She would never give me peace, not in life, and it appeared not even in death.

"_I heard his wife is dead!"_ one of the female visitors exclaimed. _"And that he was the one to kill her."_

"_I have heart that too."_ Another one chimed in. _"And I have also heard that he's looking for a new wife. Perhaps tomorrow is the chance to make your move."_

The other one laughed.

"_Yeah. As if I'd ever consider hitting on Caius Volturi."_ She chuckled darkly_. "He's one of them. They're nothing but murderous monsters."_

I froze. Who was this person bold enough to say something like that inside our castle? Even if I felt the anger blaze up inside me, I had to admire the person. I started to walk as quietly as possible in the direction of the voices.

The other one hushed_. "You shouldn't be saying things like this inside the castle. You know that they won't let you leave if they catch you saying things like this."_

The first one snorted.

"_They won't kill me. They won't dare. They have already hurt my family enough, and I am only here to make sure that they're not keeping anything from us."_

There was a moment of silence, and I stopped; fearing they had heard me.

"_So the rumors are true. You're here to spy on them."_

"_I wouldn't exactly call it spying. I got an invitation like the rest of them; the difference is that I wanted to decline."_

"_So what are you here to find out?"_ the second girl sounded like she was dying to know, a little more of her accent slipped out into her words.

"_We believe that the Volturi has something that belongs to my family, and I am here to see if I can get it back."_ The voice was more a whisper now, forcing me to strain to listen.

"_What?"_ the other girl also whispered, but her excitement made it easier to hear her.

"_I can't tell you."_ The first voice was back to the normal volume now. _"Like you said, this castle has a lot of ears, and they really wouldn't let me live if they knew what I suspect."_

I walked faster now, wanting to catch whoever knew too much before she had the chance to ruin everything for us. I almost ran up the stairs, wishing that vampires could fly. But I when I ran through the rooms I couldn't find them. Whoever the owners of the voices had been, they seemed to be long gone now.

"Master Caius!" I heard Felix' voice boom through the hall.

I turned around, angry and frustrated, hoping that he had heard them too.

"What?" I almost snapped at him.

"You're wanted in the throne room, the last guests are arriving, and Aro thought you would want to greet the Scandinavian vampires yourself. Considering your past."

I gritted my teeth, wanting to continue my search for the spy. Turned to look at the empty hall again.

"Master Caius?" his voice was questioning now.

I sighed. I knew Aro would be in a very foul mood already, and if I didn't show to greet the Scandinavian vampires he would probably start asking questions, and I simply couldn't afford to show him my mind.

I grudgingly started back towards Felix, clenching my hands.

"Let's go then."

In the second floor the halls were filled with vampires greeting each other and catching up. All the voices quieted when I continued on my way to the throne room, all eyes focusing on me. I straightened, making me seem even taller than I already was. One of the girls standing with her back towards me turned as I passed, and I got a whiff of vanilla and roses as her long, blond hair brushed my arm.

"Master." She said as she turned and walked down the hall where I had come from.

I stopped, recognizing the voice. I felt the tension in the room as electricity on my skin, but I couldn't turn to stop her. Not here, not in front of every powerful vampire in the world.

"Master?" Felix sounded worried.

"It was nothing, Felix." I said as I started to walk.

I memorized the scent that still faintly clung to my jacket, sure, she would get away now, but she was staying here till after the wedding. I would be able to find her tomorrow.

The last of the guests had already arrived when I entered, and I walked directly over to Anna, the blond vampire. Her freckled face shone up when she saw me.

"Caius, dear friend."

I gave her a quick hug.

"Anna, darling, how have you been?"

She laughed.

"We haven't had more werewolf problems, if that's what you're asking about."

I smiled a genuine smile.

"Good. And how is the cold north?"

She shrugged.

"It's summer, it's not exactly cold at this time of the year."

I sighed.

"How I miss the snow and the northern lights."

She grinned.

"You know that you're welcome at any time, you don't need to wait for a werewolf attack."

Aro cleared his throat, hating to be ignored like this.

"Of course you are too, Aro."

I laughed. Anna was the head of the Scandinavian vampires, and possibly the oldest one except from Aro. She had no recalling of how she came to exist, and she had no idea where she came from. She had only carved her own path as the years had gone by. If she had wanted power, she could possibly have been even more powerful than Aro, considering her gift of persuasion. There was no vampire or human who had been able to resist her if she wanted something.

She looked back at her two guards, considering the luggage they were carrying.

"I suppose there's a room for me here?" she asked brightly. "And for my guards too?"

Aro nodded.

"Felix will show you where you're staying."

His voice was colder now, he neither liked the way Anna was friendlier towards me, nor her ability and how she'd always refused to become a part of our coven.

"Great."

She smiled as she turned back to me.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Caius. We'll catch up then."

I nodded and watched her and her guards following Felix.

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**I bet you didn't see that one coming? I know you all have theories now, I'd love to hear them:)**

**And I have resurrected my blog, promising previews and playlists and more:) You'll find the link on my profile. **

**Till next time.**

**J.**


	12. The mask

**My computer has been down, and I'm sending it back for repairs tomorrow. Therefore I don't really know when I'll get time to write the next chapter since I have to share computer with my mom. **

**But here's chapter 12^^ **

**J.**

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"So, this girl your brother is marrying, who is she?"

Anna tied my tie with sure hands as she questioned me about everything that had been going on the past decade. I had finally been able to get away from my brothers, and had begun preparing for the masquerade.

Anna was already in her black, silk dress, the fabric and the color making her skin and hair seem white in contrast. She would get a lot of attention looking like that.

"No one you've heard of." I answered, trying to keep the irritation out of my voice.

I really didn't need Anna to figure out the fascination I had for Bella. I trusted Anna, I really did, but I wasn't ready to get all whiny about my feelings for the human girl who was promised another man. Anna would probably do her best to understand, but there was no way she really would. She had chosen to live without a companion, and she had already mocked me for choosing Athenodora.

Her eyes met mine in the mirror as I turned to look at myself, and her look told me that she had seen through me.

"Fine." She said, sighing. "I'm sure I'll figure it all out sooner or later. You're not the one for keeping secrets."

I chuckled darkly.

"No. But as of tonight there won't actually be any secrets to keep."

She smiled, and picked up the mask on the table by the door. She let her fingers slide over the black feathers, and she playfully held it over her face.

"Perhaps not, but there's still a chance they'll keep her identity a secret."

I knew they would try, but I also knew they expected to fail. To keep Bella's face covered the entire night wasn't really realistic, since there would be a lot of vampires wanting to know who she was. I had debated telling Aro about the mysterious woman, but I couldn't take the chance that Bella wasn't allowed out before the wedding. I wanted to see her. I needed to see her.

"If they manage to keep her mask on the entire night, I'll be amazed." I said as fastened my own simple, black mask.

Anna laughed.

"You're probably right."

She placed her mask back on the table before she went over to another mirror and started to apply makeup. I rolled my eyes.

"You know you don't need human-made chemicals to look good, right?"

She just shrugged.

"Don't see why I can't make an extra effort." She batted her eyelashes. "After all, I'm in the presence of a king."

"Says the princess of the north." I muttered.

She sighed, hating the nickname she had been given after the "werewolf thing". She hated power, and she hated people who took advantage of power. She had refused Aro's many attempts to make her a Volturi guard, and with her power of persuasion, she had again and again forced him to give up. Though, her powers were limited, they would wear off as soon as she left, or as soon as she had been gone long enough for the person to clear his or her mind.

She took out the curler and carefully twirled her silky hair around it.

"So." She said, breaking the silence again. "Is this masquerade only for Marcus and his wife-to-be, or are you looking for a new queen yourself? I know they're lining up to meet you. "

She looked over at me with a smile on her face and a devilish spark in her eyes. I turned back to the mirror, fastening the cufflinks on my shirtsleeves.

"I am not looking for a queen. I have realized that they're more trouble than they're worth." I turned back to her, looking her directly in the eyes. "What? Were you hoping for a throne?"

"If I wanted a throne, I would build my own." She replied quickly. "You know the times have changed now, don't you Caius? Women are allowed to do things for themselves now."

I laughed.

"So you won't need me to escort you to the ballroom either, I guess." I raised an eyebrow in question.

"Of course I don't need you to escort me anywhere." She answered as she let the last curl slide from the curling iron. "But if you leave me alone with your brother I'll probably talk him into leave you in charge for the evening."

I put my jacket on, turning around for a final approval.

"Look at that." She said as she inspected me. "I bet every female vampire will suddenly have the ability to drool."

She winked playfully, and I picked up her mask and threw it at her.

"Come on. Perhaps you have the luxury of being able to show up fashionably late, but I guess I'm expected to show up at time."

She carefully fastened it without ruining her hair, then she took the arm I was offering, letting me lead her towards the ballroom. The halls were darker than usual, as all the electric lights were turned off for the occasion. Hundreds of candles flickered, showing the way.

The scent of Bella's blood clung teasingly to the air, with a promise that I would get to see her. Telling me that she had already walked through these halls. I forced myself to keep a steady pace, to not show Anna how much I wanted to run into the ballroom and lift her up into my arms.

The music was calm, not for dancing, not yet. I could hear the murmur of voices as we reached the open, double doors. They talked silently, hushed, like they were exchanging secrets no one was meant to hear. Still they knew everyone could hear them.

I listened for the female voice I had heard earlier, but I already knew it was a waste of effort. It would be next to impossible to distinguish one voice of the hundred other voices. I wouldn't give up though, the night was still young.

We walked in, leaving the room in complete silence for about five seconds. All eyes were on us, and I could feel Anna tense beside me. I almost laughed. It wasn't exactly smart of her to insist to go with me when she hated the attention and admiration she would get. I gently squeezed her fingers, hoping that the gesture would be reassuring.

I bowed lightly before walking through the vampires scattering out of our way. When we reached the end of the room, the scent of blood was stronger. I let my eyes wander from chair to chair. There were six now, three for me and my brothers, and three for our companions.

Sulpicia looked stunning in her ruby red, floorlength gown, her long, black hair falling free over her shoulders. Her mask was lacy, and in the same ruby red color as her dress, making her eyes seem even more intensely red. She stood up to greet Anna, since she had been too busy to help greeting the guests earlier.

"Anna!" she exclaimed, bending over to kiss her cheeks. "We have missed you."

Aro walked over and placed his arm protectively around Sulpicia's shoulders.

"I have already told her that she has a spot here if she wants it, darling." He looked at me with that playful glance. "And now that dear Caius here is single perhaps she will take it?"

Anna laughed, it took a lot to make her uncomfortable, and my brothers had never been able to do that. But as she laughed, I noticed the hammering heart, and the strengthened scent of blood. I let my eyes pass Sulpicia and Aro, briefly meeting Marcus' hard glare before I found her. She was standing halfway behind Marcus, half of her face concealed by the lace and silk mask, with a single emerald green feather on the right side. From what I could see from her dress, it was the same green as her mask, giving her skin a faint glow.

Her brown eyes were wide behind her mask, and she was staring directly at Anna. The look she was giving her was filled with disbelief, hurt and jealousy. Even the air around her smelled of the disappointment, and I could see Marcus tense as he too noticed it.

Anna put an arm around my waist, oblivious to what her presence had caused already.

"I love Caius." Anna began.

I could almost feel the vibrations from Bella's heartbeats through the floor now.

"But I don't think I'm ready to leave the northern lights and the snow."

Aro nodded and smiled, like he always did.

"Well," he said. "at least my Sulpicia won't be a lonely queen even if you're still reluctant to join us. Isabella, come and meet a dear friend of us."

Bella carefully stepped around Marcus, not even looking up at him as she passed. Her eyes were fixed on me and Anna, and the way Anna rested her head on my chest. She couldn't know that this was the way Anna had always been, and her heartbeats were loud and frightened.

She started to reach out a hand, but retracted it as soon as she remembered that vampires didn't greet that way. Anna laughed warmly, then she moved away from me to hug Bella.

"It's nice to meet you, Isabella. I am glad to see Marcus has found love again."

I felt helpless. Bella's hurt look pained me, and I couldn't tell her that this was just a friend. When Anna moved away from her and over to me again, I took a step to the side, trying to show her that there was nothing to worry about. That I wasn't with Anna.

"We should take our seats." Aro said, casting a glance at his watch. "It's time to officially start the ball."

I led Anna to the chair beside mine, and sat down myself. Aro led Sulpicia to the chair on the other side of mine, but he didn't sit down himself.

"Friends, family." He said, his voice strong and sure. "We are gathered here today to introduce to you the new vampire queen."

He turned, gesturing towards Bella. She looked uncomfortable, like she wished she could disappear into the chair.

"She is not one of us yet, but she will be soon."

I heard the whispers start up again as they finally got a clear glance of the girl beside Marcus. There where whispers about her powers, which was rumored to have manifested already, and her being a real human princess. There where whispers about her coming from a long line of witches, and also murmurs about other long-lost supernatural creatures. It was unthinkable that she was just a human.

I looked at her, wishing that she would look at me, wishing that she would understand what I was desperately trying to tell her. But as soon as my eyes met hers, she looked away. I clenched my fists in frustration, scolding myself for not anticipating this outcome. Why hadn't I realized that coming with another woman would make her feel uncomfortable?

The music started, and I realized I had missed the rest of Aro's speech. It didn't matter, it couldn't hold anything important anyway, since he didn't want to let the outside world know too much already. The floor was soon filled with dancing couples in glittering dresses and expensive suits. We had to sit here at least through the first dance, keeping up the appearance as the rulers. I had often remained seated through the entire time, but today I was looking for someone.

I waited for Aro and Sulpicia to enter the floor before I turned and asked Anna to dance. She raised an eyebrow in question, but she smiled and took my hand.

"Caius." She said with a teasing tone. "I didn't know you could dance."

I led her onto the floor, and we soon blended in with the couples on the floor. I could feel the stares, but at least this way I wouldn't get asked to dance by the whispering hordes of single girls. It seemed as if they too, like Bella, believed that I'd already replaced Athenodora.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me." I replied.

"I doubt that." She answered.

I laughed softly, hoping that she didn't catch the desperation underneath. I wished I could tell her, but I knew that even Anna wouldn't understand. Not this time. She would laugh it off as me wanting what my brothers had.

We kept dancing, and I tried to lead her through the masses of vampires, looking for the scent of vanilla and roses that I had smelled the night before. It was definitely there, faint and concealed by all the other scents. I looked for the blond hair, but suddenly I noticed that over half the vampires in the room were blond, including Anna.

I gritted my teeth.

"Something wrong?" Anna asked. She had probably noticed my lousy mood.

She seemed to notice the way I searched through the room.

"Are there anyone else you'd rather dance with?"

Yes. There was. But that girl was sitting on a throne on the other side of the room, guarded by my overprotective brother.

"No." I lied. "I was just looking to see if a friend of mine had arrived."

She looked at me, doubtful.

"Caius Volturi has other friends than me? This is news."

I laughed.

"It's no one important. Just someone I'd like to have a word with."

She shrugged, letting it go. I loved that about Anna, she didn't keep asking when it seemed like you wanted to avoid the subject. We kept dancing, but when I hadn't found who I was looking for by the end of the third song, I had to let Anna go back to her chair. She wanted to catch up with Sulpicia, and since I didn't want to tell her why I wanted to dance I really couldn't keep her on the floor.

She walked over to the line of chairs, taking mine, as it was closer to Sulpicia. I stayed on the floor, talking to Amun, the head of the Egyptian coven. Clearly he had been given an offer for the newest member of his coven again, and he tried to explain to me why he didn't want to let the newcomer, Benjamin go.

"You see, Tia, another member of our coven has found love with him. And I simply cannot force them both to come here. You see that, don't you? Also, the bonds we have created over the years are strong now, I am sure Marcus can agree to that."

I didn't really pay attention, just stood there, nodding. Over his shoulder I could see Marcus talking to Bella, reaching out for her hand. I could also see that she retracted hers only seconds after. It made me smile.

"Excuse me." I said to the vampire in front of me.

He didn't seem to mind me leaving, and I was sure I could hear a relieved sigh as I started to walk. I knew I shouldn't do this; I should turn around and walk away before I made the situation even worse than it already was.

Bella's eyes met mine, and I could see how the rosy colored flushed her cheeks.

I walked over to her, seeing the brown eyes behind the mask get larger as I approached.

"Marcus," I said when I had reached them. "Would you mind?"

I could see the frustration in his eyes, the fact that he wanted to rip me apart right then and there. But he knew he couldn't refuse me this dance, all eyes was on her, and she was the guest of honor after all.

"But I can't dance."

"You've heard her wishes." He said quickly, trying to send me away.

Her cheeks were red, and her voice was unsteady. Was she really that scared of my brother? He didn't deserve her if he was going to treat a strong-willed girl like her as a wallflower.

"Nonsense." I answered, smiling warmly at her. "It's all in the leading."

I bowed, looking up at her to see if she would respond. She didn't move, but I still reached out to take her hand and place my hand on her waist. The warmth almost tingled in my fingers, and I had to keep from pulling her closer to me. Instead I waited for her to place her hand on my shoulder.

I started to move, leading her in a slow waltz through the room. Her heart was hammering, and I was sure that each and every one of the staring vampires had noticed the strengthened scent of her. She blushed as she noticed the crowd had stopped moving as we danced, leaving us alone on the floor.

"Breathe." I whispered in her ear.

She took a couple of unsteady breaths, never letting her eyes leave mine.

"Now, there's no reason to leave the floor. Dance!"

Aro's voice didn't sound worried or strained like Marcus' had. He had nothing to worry about, so why should he?

The floor filled up again with the dancing couples, and it didn't take long for them to ignore Bella's presence.

"So …" she began, hesitant. "Your new girlfriend seems nice."

She looked down as she spoke.

I sighed, tilting her head back up with my index finger.

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Oh." Bella said. "But Aro …"

"Has tried to make her join us for the last two centuries." I finished. "She's a close friend of the coven."

I leaned closer, and whispered.

"She's only a part of my mask."

She let out a relieved sigh as I felt her shiver from my cold breath on her skin. Then she remembered who she was there with, and looked at Marcus. The anger that rolled off him was almost visible.

"Don't worry about him." I whispered, hoping that the others were too involved in their own conversations to listen into our. "He's just being his overprotective self."

She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"The wedding is in three days." She mumbled. "And I am starting to think that there's no way out now."

She sighed, but when I opened my mouth to comfort her, she kept speaking.

"I thought there was some way I could get out of it. That I could delay it, or that I could get him to change his mind."

The now familiar ache in my chest came back when I saw the single tear in her eye. Suddenly I wanted to scream that everyone should leave the room. I wanted to be able to comfort her without the stares of the vampires around me.

But I couldn't hold her close and tell her that everything was going to be fine. It wasn't. She was a simple human caught in the Volturi's net, and there was simply no way out of it. In a brief moment I considered having Anna change Marcus' mind, but I knew that it was only going to be temporary. I could ask Chelsea to alter their bonds, but it seemed like Marcus wasn't doing this out of love for her, so it would probably be a waste of efforts.

There was nothing that would change Marcus' mind now, not even getting down on my knees to beg would make a difference.

I could feel her warm breath gliding over my skin, and the sweet scent of her blood seemed to fill my entire world as I looked into her brown eyes, watching the tear as it grew in the corner of her eye.

I opened my mouth to say something, but then it was there. The scent of vanilla and roses had gotten stronger, and I saw the blond head right behind Bella. I stepped back, kissed the palm of her hand and bowed. I had no time to excuse myself, I had no time to explain why I had to run.

The fair-haired vampire was on her way out of the ballroom, her silver dress trailing behind her. I walked faster to catch up with her, but it seemed like she knew she was being followed. She almost ran as she entered the hall, and I sped up.

I had to catch her. I had realized it the moment she had walked passed us on the dance floor; she could be the solution to all our problems. If she really hated us Volturi as much as she had said last night there might still be a chance.

The chase continued through the winding halls and passageways in the castle, but in the end she wasn't fast enough. I grabbed her right arm, forcing her around. The mask fell off in the sudden movement.

"Tanya Denali." I chuckled darkly. "I should have known it was you."

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___**Like last time I'll post a preview of the next chapter on my blog as soon as I can. You'll find the link on my profile page. There'll also be a playlist for this chapter, hopefully later today. **_

___**See you soon!**_

___**J.**_


	13. The ally

**I know I suck. I know, I know, I know. I am sorry it has taken so long to get the next chapter out. But I promised finishing it. And I will. We almost have no school left before the summer, and I can finally afford spending time on writing again. So here is the next chapter. With a promise that the next one will come within the next weeks. **

**It's all plotted out. **

**J.**

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"Do you mind telling me why you decided to come to our ball?"

I had her pinned to the wall, and I could smell the fear rolling off her.

"Do you mind letting me go?"

She was not giving up easily, her smile might be fake, but her will was strong.

"I think the safest choice is keeping you here, but the sooner you start speaking, the sooner we'll be done here." I smirked.

Her eyes narrowed to thin slits.

"Why do you think I'm here? I'm here to check on Edward's precious human."

At the mention of his name, she looked away. Of course, killing a Cullen would be the same as killing a Denali, they all hated us now.

The blond hair fell down and covered her cheek, and I was suddenly grateful I wouldn't have to see the hurt in her eyes.

"So you're here for Bella. What do you want to know? That she is alive? You already saw that. That she is happy? She's getting married to a vampire king, and she doesn't have to die."

"They want her back in Forks. She doesn't have to die or get married, they have promised to look after her."

Her arguments were weak, and I suddenly realized she wasn't here for Bella. She might have fooled herself and her coven, but I could see the disappointment she had experienced when she got here and discovered Edward really was dead.

"But Aro gave her a choice." I replied with a stronger voice. "She got to choose between living like one of us or dying. She didn't want to die, so she chose to become a Volturi. And that's actually a pretty good outcome if you think about it. She can have everything she wants."

"She can be trapped in this castle like the rest of you, living the same lie you live, taking the same orders you take. You're not a king, Caius. You're nothing but a puppet."

I laughed darkly.

"Being a puppet beats not existing at all. That is my choices, and I choose to live."

She turned her head back to look at me.

"You've lived this lie for more than a millennia. Don't you ever get tired of it? Have you never even considered breaking out of the Volturi?"

I almost growled.

"You say it like it should be so easy. Like it would just be to pack up my things and leave this place behind, without having to look back again. Don't you think my actions would be punished if I just decided to leave? They would keep looking for me for the rest of my existence."

Her eyes didn't waver from mine.

"It took me decades to get a chance to get rid of my wife. It might take decades before I get a chance to leave this place behind."

I immediately regretted my words as they left my tongue. Her eyes widened, and her lips went up in a careful but sly smile.

"Caius. The mighty Volturi vampire. Can it really be that you're longing to be free like the rest of us?"

I felt my mouth clench shut. This wasn't the way this conversation was supposed to go. This wasn't the outcome I wanted. I wanted to keep Bella here, so that I could have a chance of making her mine, but now I had instead let this.. lowlife know that I considered leaving my throne.

I forced her further into the wall, and could hear the stones crack behind her.

"I should just take your head off now and be done with it." I snarled to the blonde. "I should just tell Aro your true intentions and say that I really felt like there was no choice."

"Then why don't you?" She asked, a bit choked. "It really would be that easy."

I knew I couldn't do it. I knew killing her and telling Aro her intentions would let Aro have an access to my mind. And I just couldn't afford that. Killing her would really not even force me to use any strength at all, but now, when the castle was guarded, everyone would notice it if I tried to carry out the remains of a vampire. And with this many vampires in the area someone would also notice it if I tried to burn the remains. It would cause too much attention, both to myself and to the human.

She laughed when she saw my hesitation, and I knew I had lost the battle.

"You're keeping secrets too, aren't you?" she said in a low but sure voice.

Suddenly I realized I was stuck. There was nowhere to hide, nowhere to run, and no way to get rid of this annoying creature in front of me.

"I feel like killing you could make the other partygoers feel uneasy."

I knew she could see that I was plainly lying, buying time to figure out what I could do.

"How about we strike a deal?" she looked at me with the same smile and a lifted eyebrow.

I released some of my grip on her, but not enough to let her escape.

"This isn't really the place for talking." I said in a quiet but firm voice, letting her know I was interested, but not enough to make promises yet. And definitely not enough to risk everything being overheard by anyone walking around in the castle.

She leaned closer as a couple turned the corner, letting her lips brush my ear.

"Perhaps we can take a walk in the gardens then, or in the streets of Volterra?" she let out a soft giggle afterwards, for the benefit of the show.

I let go of my firm grip on her, almost expecting her to run at the first chance.

But she didn't. Instead she took two steps in the direction of the nearest entrance and turned to look at me. There definitely existed a hidden intention in her eyes, but I knew I wouldn't get to know what it was unless I followed her.

Clenching my fists in frustration of the development, I followed Tanya out of the castle, and out to the humid streets of Volterra.

Making sure we weren't followed, we ran through the winding streets, making sure our scent lingered almost in every street before we quietly slipped into a dark house. The scent of humans was strong, and the soft sounds of breathing told us they were sound asleep in their beds.

"What is your idea?" I asked, going straight to the point.

"You want away from the castle?" She asked in return.

I felt my jaw stiffen once again, but carefully nodded my head in answer. I was the one who usually asked the questions unless my brothers were the ones leading the conversation. Or Bella.

"I want the human." She said in return.

I waited. There was going to be more than this.

"I have a feeling I won't be able to get the human without your help." She continued after a while. "I can see how this might seem completely pointless and stupid."

I nodded my head again. It really did seem pointless and stupid to save the former girlfriend of the man you used to love. Especially when there were so many risks tied to the mission. Especially when it was the future wife of Marcus, a future vampire queen.

"But the thing is, the Volturi always gets what they want." Her gaze met mine. "I could see it in your eyes. I could see it in her eyes as well for the matter."

I opened my mouth to protest.

"I can see it. I can see you clearly have a bond." As she talked faster the Russian accent grew heavier. "And if we could get a Volturi vampire to join our side, we might stand a chance."

I raised an eyebrow.

"A chance at what exactly?"

"A chance at winning the war." She could see my confusion and kept talking. "There have been unhappiness. The Volturi has reigned for too long. After you killed Edward and taken his human girlfriend, our world has started doubting the reasons you want the power."

I almost laughed. After so many centuries they hadn't realized that my brothers were crazed by the power before?

"And you plan on starting a war?" I asked. I could almost hear the laughter in my voice. "You and what army?"

Her eyes narrowed.

"There are a lot of vampires in this world, and if we could gather and fight.."

"Then what?" I cut her off. "We won wars against large armies of newborns. And there's no chance you'd be able to gather enough vampires willing to take the chance of a war against the Volturi. They are frightened."

I knew I sounded cocky, but I had also been a part of spreading the terror that kept the other vampires from rising up and fight us. I knew how horrible we had been.

"We have already gathered a small group of vampires. I was here to see whether it would be possible to rescue Isabella Swan or not." She looked down, and I knew she also thought about Edward.

"But if we could get a Volturi king on our side.. there would be a lot more vampires willing to take the chance."

The shock must have been clear on my face. She waited.

"I told you what would happen if I ran away." I answered simply.

"I know what you told me, but there has to be a chance." There was begging in her voice.

"There would clearly be a chance." I said. "If it was only me we were talking about. I can't very well parade out of there with Marcus' wife."

She was quiet for a while.

"What if it was only you we were talking about?" her voice was more serious now. "I mean. Now I know that you could be on our side. I know that you could help us in the war. We wouldn't need Bella, we could tell the Cullen's that it was too late.." Her voice trailed off as I knew she thought that Alice would already have seen this conversation in her head.

"If we can't get her, the most important piece of the puzzle would be you." She said. More intent.

I cocked my head to the side.

"I thought you were here to save Edward's human?"

"She is less important than this cause."

It would be possible for me to leave without too much trouble. If I just ran now, now while the others would be preoccupied with the masquerade for a while. They wouldn't even start missing me before it was too late.

But Bella would.

I was sure of it. She would notice my absence, even if I hadn't been able to see her as much as she wanted me to. Would I be able to leave her now though? After all, an uprising and war was not the thing I had set my mind to win, it was her. I wasn't exactly happy with the Volturi, but I had status. I had safety. And I almost had Bella.

Leaving would mean losing all those things with the snap of my fingers. It would mean forever being cast out, always be hunted by the trackers. I could fight some of them off, but there would always be more. I wasn't immune to the powers of the twins, I wasn't immune to any power. I would be an easy and very visible target.

But if I could get Bella.. If I could have her, would I then want to stay with the Volturi? Where she might be one of my brother's puzzle pieces? Would I even be able to get her, now that Marcus has set his mind on marrying her and making her a queen?

I felt like tearing the hair off my head. From what Tanya said, the other vampires would let me be one of them. From what she said, there could be an uprising that would throw my brothers off the throne, and perhaps giving the power to someone who would know how to use it.

"I cannot leave without the human." I said firmly. "My brother thinks she might have great powers, and I am afraid he will force her to use those powers to help him. As long as her family is alive, she would also do his bidding, she is too fond of them."

And also, I couldn't stand the thought of leaving her to be married and bonded to Marcus, though I wouldn't say it out loud.

The golden eyes became thoughtful. "He really thinks she might have that great abilities?"

"Yes. He can't read her mind, and the twins can't affect her at all." I answered, not even bothering to consider if this would be too much information. After all, she seemed to be on my side, no matter what side that was.

I could tell that she really had seen something between us, but she was smart enough to keep her mouth shut about it, accepting that the arguments she got were good enough.

"When is she supposed to be changed?" She asked.

"The night of her wedding."

I felt my body tense as I realized how close that was.

Tanya was quiet again. I could tell that she also tried finding a way around it.

"Is there any way to stall the change?"

I shook my head. Bella had agreed to all the conditions, and therefore it would happen.

"I guess.." Tanya said slowly. "I guess we could kidnap her."

"We?" I asked.

It would be next to impossible to get Bella out of the castle, especially if it was only the two of us that were going to go on this mission.

"We. " She replied. "Me and my sisters."

She smiled as she saw the expression on my face.

"What? You didn't think I would risking flying to Italy on my own? Irina and Kate are here as well. Your old friend, Eleazar, and his wife are also here. Though, I think he wouldn't be too happy to see you."

I snorted. The feeling was mutual. Even if I knew that he had done the right in leaving, I also disliked the fact that he'd done it. There weren't too many guard members that could be trusted, but he'd been one of them. At least for a while.

"If you could create a diversion, so that there would be a possibility to go in and get her out.." Tanya suggested.

I shook my head again.

"A diversion? To get the bride to be out of the castle? I have already messed up enough to make sure there are eyes on her every second of the day."

"Well." She sounded more angry now, probably sick of me beating down all her ideas. "I guess there is nothing we could do then. We'd just stand by and see the Volturi get their will once again. And see Bella become the wife of your brother and the vampire queen."

"There might be someone who would be willing to help us." I said. "But it means risking telling the plan to yet another vampire."

The idea was not welcome, I could see, but she nodded for me to keep talking.

"There is a vampire that can get humans and vampires alike to follow her every order. They are compelled to do what she says."

As the plan took place, we knew that there wasn't really time to waste. It would mean taking huge risks. It would mean having to trust one another. And it would definitely mean causing a war much larger than the vampire world had seen before. All because of one, pathetic, meaningless human.

That I couldn't leave behind.


	14. The escape

**Thank you all for reading and commenting. It means a lot to me. Here is the next chapter, and I even managed the one week promise I gave. **

**I hope you like it.**

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"Please?"

Her brilliant red eyes were looking at me with a confused look. I could understand that, since I was asking her to do something this dangerous and unthinkable. I was asking her to help confuse Aro long enough to let us get Bella out of the castle.

We were standing in the middle of a field. I'd had to get her away from all the curious eyes at the castle, to make sure I could tell her my plan in peace. We'd run for several miles, putting the city behind us and making sure to leave traces everywhere in case someone decided to follow. Not that anyone should have any reason to, but I was getting paranoid.

"You know that my persuasion only last temporarily on vampires? Only as long as I am in the proximity to make sure they can't get out of it?"

Anna was clearly doublechecking that I knew what I was doing.

"You said it yourself Anna. This isn't a place anyone should want to belong to. Here's nothing but control. Nothing but being controlled. Aro and Marcus has been doing this for thousands of years!"

Her raised eyebrows told me that she was surprised. And why wouldn't she be? I had turned down her offer of living in her mansion in the north, because I had too strong ties to this place. It would have been a possibility then, no one would think much of it. Except from my now deceased wife.

"Caius." Her lips went up in a half smile. "You're in love, aren't you?"

My eyes narrowed and my stance was immediately defensive.

"Love is one thing. I want her. I want to make sure Marcus can't have her. She will be mine."

Anna laughed.

"You're seriously one of the most stubborn men I have ever met in the whole of my existence. And not the brightest one." Her face suddenly got serious. "You are prepared to start a war over a girl?"

I hesitated. It wasn't only the girl. The girl had a lot to do about my decision to do things right now, but the girl wasn't the only reason. I'd been unhappy here for centuries, feeling like a puppet Aro could pull the strings to at any moment he decided. I was just one of the three original Volturi vampires, but that idealism we had had in the beginning, the idea of creating order in the chaos, those thoughts had disappeared gradually as the power increased. Now it was purely about controlling, about deciding, about showing the others who was strongest.

"It has been like this for too long, Anna. Even you should see that. You might be shielded from the control since Aro is scared of your powers, but he is not the man he used to be. He has changed, and so has Marcus. Sometime from when we started, to now, they got too infatuated with the power they have. I don't have powers, and I have never felt like I was in charge of anything. I think those things are the reason I haven't turned out as them."

She nodded.

"I've always liked you Caius, and I will definitely not be on the Volturi side if things would come to an uprising, but I need to be sure that you are ready to take the consequences. I have been around to see a lot of vampire wars, and this one will be so much bigger than anything that has been before."

"I guess all I needed was a reason to deal with the consequences."

She smiled, her eyes showing that devious glint teenagers have when they are about to do something their parents wouldn't approve of. I knew she would be on my side. I suddenly got an idea.

"Do you think there are others that would take our side?"

She got thoughtful.

"That depends on what the Volturi can give them if they win. There are a lot of vampires that would stand on the strongest side, just because they would get a better position if their side won. In that way, we're pretty much like the humans we once were."

If we could just get some of the more powerful covens over to our side, we would have a better chance at surviving this war. I knew the Romanians might be persuaded, but perhaps not if I was the one who did the argumentation. There were a coven in Ireland, and the Cullen's would probably do whatever the Denali coven did. And getting Eleazar back meant getting the ability to find new abilities. He would be able to see the potential if it was there, and the Denali sisters would be good at making that potential what it could be.

Of course I was counting on us having some time. It would not turn into a full scale war for a long time, since my brothers would analyze and strategically plan out every little move. And they would have a harder time doing so when I left. They were usually the ones sitting at home, while I took part in the fights. The planning.

But they would definitely strike back. How could they not? It would be mocking them in front of everyone in the vampire society. Taking Marcus' bride to be and escaping. Everyone was already there for the wedding.

I wondered how they would react when they realized there would be no wedding. That Bella had disappeared from the castle, and that Marcus would be left at the altar. Figuratively speaking.

"So we do this tonight?" Anna asked. "Since the wedding is supposed to be tomorrow."

I nodded. Sulpicia had gone overboard with all the wedding preparations, making a vampire/human hybrid ceremony, opening all the roof windows in the throne room, making sure that sunlight would make Marcus sparkle and shine while they said their promises. Getting Bella a white wedding dress to make a point of her innocence and humanity. There was no way Bella would even have to get into that dress.

"As soon as we get back I think. Do you know what to do?"

"Go into Aro's study, get him to call for Marcus, and tell them to let Bella leave with me to go to a hairdressing saloon in the city." She shrugged. "It wouldn't really be that difficult. But how will we get away fast enough to make sure they can't follow us?"

I grinned. "I have an account in the name of someone completely insignificant and unimportant. We'll take the next plane to Venice, and then a private jet to wherever we want to go."

"Have you decided where that place is?"

I shrugged. "Figured we'd decide on the way. The Denali's might know some place we could hold up for a while."

"How about my place?" she asked indifferently. "It's at least guarded as good as this place. I might not have all the weird superpowers the Volturi has, but at least it's easy enough to see if someone tries to sneak up on you. The upside of living on an island."

I could feel that the surprise would be easy to read on my face.

"Come on, Caius. I am going to be the one to lure Bella out of the castle. Might as well admit I am going to be up to my neck in trouble after that, and making sure the new headquarters would be near me, would be the most logical way to make sure I am safe." She grinned. "It's as much for me as it is for you."

"The island doesn't really have a lot of food on it though." I replied, hinting to the low population. "Would be impossible to hold up there for long. Besides, like you said, you'll be the one taking her. they know where you live."

And not safe for Bella to be around a dozen hungry vampires either, I added silently.

"We couldn't stay there for long. Just long enough to make sure the first wave of rage from your brothers wouldn't hurt us. They're going to react, not by starting an immediate war without knowing how big it would turn out, but they would definitely send someone to try to get her back. If they did, they wouldn't necessarily have to start a full out war."

I could see her point.

"Also. There are lots of hidden covens in the north. There are a lot of areas with thick woods or impressively large empty areas. There would be places to hide. Or we could go over to America when it got safe. But right now, we have to make sure we're somewhere we could see an attack coming, and knowing that we could trust the vampires nearby. They might not even expect us to take her there right away. You wouldn't."

She'd made some good points. Didn't mean I liked her poking holes in my logic.

"So from Venice and then up to the icy north then? Would definitely be a change for Bella." I mumbled.

"She'll deal with the change." Anna shrugged. "My mansion has electricity, internet, fireplaces, and closets full of clothes. She'll have clothes and things to do. I even have a library, and a pretty good amount of the books are in English. I am sure she'll survive."

"Human food?" I asked.

"I still have some humans working for me, so I always have human food." She waited. "If you have a better idea.."

"No. We'll go there. At least for now."

She nodded, but I could see that she still expected me to change my mind again. She knew me, she also knew that her proving me wrong might as easily make me more stubborn instead of making me see reason. But this time I would set Bella's needs over my own ego. Just this once.

"Tanya and her sisters don't trust you though." I said. "They seem to think you'd betray us. And they demand that they'd meet up with us as soon as we get out of the city. Tanya even wanted to get Bella out of the castle herself."

Anna laughed. "Yeah. As if she, as a Denali without much power, could get a human out of the castle unseen. I would like to see that."

"How many others are joining us?" she asked.

"Demetri and Felix. I thought getting the most powerful tracker in the world would give us a head start."

"I have already told my guard to leave when I do. It'll just look like they're watching my back after all."

It seems like a foolproof plan, but I can't really make myself trust it. We were taking on the Volturi, and therefore there was bound to be ways things could go wrong. If somehow Jane or Alec figured it out or got a way to stop us. Or if Anna's persuasion no longer worked on Aro. This was the paranoia that had got me to run in circles to get to this field.

The sun was setting, and the last orange rays made us shine like gold and diamonds. Anna closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.

"I had forgotten how wonderful the scent of eternal summer is."

I smiled.

"It's not an eternal summer." But I knew that the cold and the saltwater definitely would make for a totally different scent. Somehow fresher.

"I'll still miss it for a while when we leave."

I nodded understandingly. I'd miss this place too. it was the only place I had known for a very, very long time.

"Where are they?" I paced restlessly back and forth by the side of the road.

Tanya, casually leaning against the big, black car sighed.

"They're going to be here soon. We don't even know when she started. We don't even know which route they are going to get here. We don't know.." she cut off.

"We can trust Anna." I said, my voice harsher than needed.

"How do you know?" She asked in an equally sharp voice.

"How do I know we can trust _you_?" I asked back.

"Unlike the ice princess, the Volturi can actually kill me off and it wouldn't make a difference at all. The Nordic and Russian vampires would make a riot if their dear Anna disappeared without a trace."

She was right. No one would care if she disappeared. She was weak and unimportant, and that was why I trusted her. To start a war, she'd either have to be really stupid or really tired of the Volturi. The later was the one I was counting on.

"She is trustworthy." I answered in a more calm voice. "She would never side with the Volturi, and I should know, since we have tried to get her to join for the last millennia."

Tanya just shrugs, giving her sister, who is sitting in the driver's seat with an open window, a doubtful look.

"Where is Eleazar and Carmen?" I ask, realizing I haven't even remembered that my old "friend" was going to be there.

"They went back to America." Kate answers. "They thought alerting the Cullen's would be the first step to take. Considering it's one of them we are breaking out."

"She's not a Cullen." I say, a bit too quickly.

Kate laughs. "No? Then what is she? A mere human? A Volturi? A vampire queen?"

I know they're making fun of me, but I also know that I can't raise a finger to hurt Kate. She would zap me to the ground if I as much as poked her.

I clenched my wrists, checking the clock again. Why were they late? I should have gone with her. But that would make the idea Anna planted in Aro and Marcus' heads less possible. Why would I join her and Bella to go to a hairdresser saloon?

I quit pacing as I heard a car engine in the distance. Clenching my jaw and fists I kept my eyes at the horizon, hoping that it would be the limo that Anna had arrived in the other day. I almost rolled my eyes. A limo. The headlights didn't tell much about the car, but as it approached I could see that it was definitely longer than your average car.

I had to control myself to not run into the road in front of it, something that wouldn't have hurt me at all, but definitely would have caused irreparable damage to the vehicle. It stopped beside me, and I almost took the door off in my attempt to open it.

"Bella?" I asked, hearing the desperation leaking into my voice.

Her heartbeats told me she was alive, but I didn't get any answer.

"She's sleeping, Caius." Anna said. And then I saw her. The curled up form on the two seats to the left of Anna. "She wasn't responding to my persuasion, and she got scared and started to make a scene. We had to make sure she wouldn't cause too many eyes to look our way."

I immediately regretted my decision to not come with them. It would have worked. Perhaps it would help making Aro and Marcus snap faster out of the idea Anna had placed in their minds, but it would have worked for a while.

"What have you done to her?" I was inside the car now, kneeling in front of the girl, hissing at Anna.

"It's just a mild drug. She'll be as good as new when she wakes up." She looked at her clock. "Which will be somewhere over Germany if we stay on schedule."

She looked back at me. "Will you be riding with us or the Denali sisters?"

Her guards were looking at me with more impatience. Bella wouldn't be able to sleep comfortably in the Denali car, which was one of the less comfortable versions of a family car.

"I'll come with you." I answered.

The door closed behind me as I said that, letting me know that the Denali sisters had heard me, and would follow in their car.

I carefully lifted Bella's head, and sat down on the seat, placing it gently on my lap. Her hair fell around her pale, but calm face in soft, silky waves. The warmth of her skin slowly worked its way through my clothes, something that started something close to an electric current to run through my body. She looked so peaceful.

"Did you have any problems with my brothers?" I asked quietly, as if it would have been possible to wake Bella with my words.

"No." Anna said, her eyes focused on the human who was now the reason for an upcoming war. "It didn't take long for them to believe that Bella was coming with me for a couple of hours with pampering and styling. I don't know how long it'll last though, but most likely it won't wear off until we're on the first plane."

I nodded in answer and let my gaze up to look at her guards. All blonde, all tall. She definitely had picked them solemnly for the purpose of coming to Italy. They were so different from the inhabitants here.

"My guards won't betray us." She said, as if she thought I was checking to see if they would. She continued in a voice that clearly gave an order. "They are loyal to our community, and they know the horrors the Volturi has caused earlier."

They all nodded, some of them with the same fiery look in their eyes as Tanya had had at the masquerade.

"How come you have been so friendly with us if this is how you guys really feel?" I asked, wondering.

"It has been important to keep a friendly tone with the Volturi." She answered, more quietly. "It would be too easy to kill us all. Now that others are rising against them, we have a shot at getting a change."

She smiled. "Besides. We didn't dislike all the Volturi vampires."

I smiled back. It was unexpected of them to let me join them without any hesitation, since I had been one of the Volturi vampires till this day. One of the bad guys.

I carefully let my fingers slide over Bella's hair. She shifted slightly in her sleep, and I felt the electricity run through me like a current. Her soft, pink lips were slightly parted. She looked so peaceful. She resembled the angels that were painted on the walls in one of the guest bedrooms. Rosy cheeks, pink lips, soft features.

"Here." Anna said and handed me a contact box, and I put in the dark brown contacts without hesitation. We had to look as human as possible at the airport.

Sooner that I would have thought we turned into the parking lot of the airport. I lifted the sleeping girl from the seats, and wrapping her in a blanket, carried her into the building. The Denali's looked relieved to see that we were still following the plan when they met up with us inside the terminal. Thanks to Anna's powers we didn't have any problem checking in to the plane, even with an unconscious human. A human that kept sleeping through the entire flight to Venice. I kept letting my fingers run through her soft hair.

When we landed, we swiftly moved to the area where the private planes were standing.

"This is it." I said when I saw it.

Anna smiled. "Impressive."

It wasn't a gigantic plane, but it had different closed off areas. We boarded quickly, all eager to take off and leave Italy behind.

I brought Bella into one of the closed off areas and let her lay on a sofa. I was about to turn and head out to the others, we had some things to discuss, when I stopped and looked at the sleeping girl again. I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, letting my finger slide over the warm skin of her cheek, before I leaned down. I stopped when my face hovered an inch above her, wondering if this was something I should be doing.

Her scent was so sweet, so wonderful. Her beating heart made soft, wet sounds as the blood was being pumped through her body, and I could even see the vibration as it streamed through the artery in her neck. Still I had no overpowering urge to bite her just now. No trace of the bloodlust I had felt the previous times we had been this close.

I let my lips brush the skin of her throat, as if to test myself. The desire to bite was definitely there, her blood sweet and only millimeters away. But instead I just pulled back. I leaned down again, this time to kiss her cheek. I felt the same jolt of electricity, only this time it was stronger than before. I leaned down again, this time to let my lips carefully meet hers.

She shifted on the sofa. I pulled back as she slowly started to open her eyes.

"Caius?" she said in a raspy voice as she recognized me. "Where am I?"

I kneeled down in front of her at the same time as the motors of the plane announced that we were ready for takeoff.

"We're in Venice right now, but we're on our way north. We've left Volterra."

She sat up and looked around.

"Where is Marcus?"

I smiled.

"He's not going to be joining us."

She looked at me with eyes that told me she didn't understand anything.

"We kidnapped you. In a way at least. I guess you could say the wedding is off." I smiled at her. "We're going to stay with Anna for a while."

"Anna?"

"The blonde vampire that drugged you."

"Oh."

Her eyelids were drooping; clearly the drugs were not completely out of her system.

"There is no reason to worry anymore, Isabella." I sat down beside her on the sofa. "We will be away from them in the morning, and then I will explain everything to you. You can sleep."

She didn't fall asleep immediately as I would have expected. She slowly leaned heavier and heavier on my shoulder, till she finally gave into the sleep. I tried getting up to go to the others, but feeling the gravity shift, she moved closer and placed her head back on my thigh. I sighed and relaxed. The trouble weren't going anywhere after all. I was sure it could wait a couple of hours.

The sounds of the motors grew, the plane started moving, and after a couple of minutes we were in the air, heading towards the northern lights.

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**And I will try my best to get the next chapter out as soon as possible! Hope you liked this one. **

**J.**


	15. The beating heart

**So. A bit late. But exams and work has taken some time the last week. But here's the update. More a slow chapter this time, to give one of the storylines a push forward. The next one should be up in not too long. Thank you for the wonderful feedback, I would love to reply to each and every one of you, but I have had to put writing first, since I want to update the story as often as possible. **

**J.**

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Bella had slept for the duration of the flight, and the sun was already up as she'd opened her eyes to take in the sunrise as the ocean reflected the light and made it play on the surface. We were circling, waiting to get clearance to land.

She'd awkwardly woken up, and realizing her head had been lying in my lap for hours. Getting up, I could see her shiver slightly, as I wasn't the warmest pillow. She rubbed her neck gently as she silently made her way over to one of the small windows. I could see her eyes widen as she saw the ocean. To me it wasn't new. I'd seen all the magnificence the world could offer; sunsets at the coastline, where it seemed as if the ocean swallowed the sun whole, sunrise over deserts where the bright, cold light seemed out of place somehow, the first winter days, where the snowflakes fell, supposedly individual and unique and somehow so alike. Nothing could amaze me with beauty anymore; I was too old for beauty. Even an ocean that sparkled like a sea of diamonds.

She lifted her hands to the side of the window, to support herself I guessed. I was at her side in a flash, keeping her from stumbling as the air seemed to drop the plane just a little.

"Steady there." I smiled.

She just kept still, her eyes glued to the light that seemed to come from everywhere.

"We're about to land." I said, hoping that she remembered something from when she woke up the last time. "We're almost at the island where Anna lives."

She turned to me slowly, almost hesitantly. "It wasn't a dream? I'm out of the castle?"

I nodded.

"You're out. There will be no wedding today."

She looked out the window with the same absentminded gaze as she lifted a hand and let it run through her hair, making it look disheveled and untidy. But she didn't notice.

"Won't they freak when they realize I'm gone?" She suddenly asked, fear in her voice.

I had to laugh. The thought of my brothers' faces as they woke up from the illusion Anna had given them would be priceless, and I almost regretted not being able to witness it. I could almost see Aro tearing the paintings from the walls in anger.

"They'll be furious." I said with a grin.

She didn't seem to find it as entertaining as I did.

"They'll come after us. They'll know where I am. They'll try to get me back."

She walked over to the sofa and sat down again, her elbows resting on her thighs.

"Of course they'll try to get you back." I said matter-of-factly. "But we won't let them. We're not going to let them get to you."

She looked up at me with a confused look.

"You and what army?" she asked in an annoyed voice. "You're one vampire. I might be a human, but I'm not stupid enough to not have noticed the guard and army your brothers control."

The plane started the last descent, and I hear Bella's beating heart as the sudden change startled her.

"Me and the rest of the vampire world. At least the ones against the Volturi, though some vampires still benefit from their rule and would support them."

She looked even more confused, and I sighed. I hadn't want to spell it out, in case she would take the news personally.

"We're planning on starting a war." I shrugged. "It was bound to happen sometime."

Her eyes widened.

"A war? What do you mean by a war?"

She closed her eyes as the plane made contact with the ground, and I was glad the years had prevented me from getting the human reactions to everything that happened around me. I walked over to her when the plane had landed, offered a hand to help her out.

"By a war, I mean that we're going to throw the Volturi out of their position as the rulers of our world. We're going to kill them if we need to."

Her face got a little paler, and her heart changed into a faster rhythm.

"How many knows about this? When will it happen? How..?"

I cut her off. "The plan is still in the first stage. Getting you out would be the first step in making people see that they don't have all control."

"And then?" she asked. Her voice shaking now, as she realized how this might turn out.

"And then we'll fight them."

"My parents." She breathed.

"The Cullen's has been notified." I assured her. "They will keep an eye out for them. The Denali sisters will most likely all go back to America to make sure they can get the word out as soon as possible."

"My mother. She's not even in Forks. She.."

"She's in Florida." I nodded. This was not exactly new information to me. "But the Cullen's also relocated after Edward.."

I could hear her swallow. The sound so incredibly loud now that the motors were off.

"They're not on the west coast anymore. Somewhere close to New York I heard. It will be easy for them to get down to her and make sure she will be safe. The Denali's will look after your father."

It wouldn't really be in my brother's style to get humans involved in vampire affairs either, the upholders of the law knew better than to go against their own rules. At least I should think they did. Getting humans involved might just turn more vampires against them, and I knew they couldn't afford that. Not when they realized what would happen if they did.

"Don't worry about your parents, Isabella." I said with a voice I hoped seemed calming.

She didn't look assured, but at least her pulse didn't race anymore. She got up as the voice over the speakers told us to leave the plane, and walked slowly, as if scared to fall, to the exit. I realized that we should have brought a thicker jacket immediately as we left the plane. She was wearing a thin blouse and a black skirt, and I could see the shudder as the cold northern air touched her skin. She wrapped her arms around herself as if she tried to hold the warmth in.

"Here," I said, shrugging off my black cardigan. "I know it's not much, but.."

She hesitantly accepted, sliding her arms in quickly when she'd decided it was safe to accept anything from me. The thick, knitted cardigan looked huge on her, and the arms were way too long, but at least it would be warmer than her blouse. She blushed as she pulled the sleeves up so that her hands were free.

"Thanks."

I caught myself fighting the urge to smile, and had to look away from her. If Bella was anything to me, she wouldn't be a weakness anyone could report back to the Volturi. Then they would only use her against me if they succeeded in getting her back.

"This way then." Anna said as she stepped out of the plane behind us.

We walked through the open area and through a gate. There was no ordinary airport, just a landing strip and a parking lot outside. I raised an eyebrow; here I'd been thinking that the Volturi liked their luxury. We were going over to a helicopter platform to bring us to Anna's mansion, located away from the inhabitants.

"I see you have everything you need and more, Anna?"

"Of course. I don't see the reason in sitting on a lot of money if you never get to use any of it." She grinned back. "That and the possibility of getting whatever you want."

I rolled my eyes. If I didn't know that she was both trustworthy and kind, I would take her for a spoiled brat.

"Refresh my memory," Bella said. "Who is that girl?"

"Only one of the most powerful vampires on this side of the equator." I sighed. "She might look like a teenager, act like a teenager, and sometimes she will throw a tantrum."

Anna turned and scowled, as if to prove my point.

"But she's also smart, cunning and quite the strategist."

"You forgot beautiful." Anna corrected.

"At least whenever you want people to think you are." I shot back. I turned to Bella. "You might not be affected by her powers, but she can get anyone to believe in anything. That's kind of her power. As long as she stays close she can control her victim's minds. Or plant illusions or ideas. She told Marcus and Aro you were going on some sort of bridal preparation trip. In the middle of the night."

"And they bought it?" She asked, a bit stunned.

I laughed.

"They had no choice. They'll wake from it soon though, we'll be in trouble then."

She nodded, understanding what I meant. She understood the consequences. The trip to the mansion was quiet, Bella mostly stared out the window at the naked landscape.

"My guards will be running." Anna explained. "We usually do, the helicopter is just for you, Bella."

Bella blushed, and I could see Anna's nostrils flare at the scent of her blood. It wasn't only me who found it appealing.

"Do people really live here?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yes." Anna answered. "Not many though, so we can't really call in for some great vampire gathering. I already send my people off the island to hunt. It's too risky to hunt here."

There were no trees, just naked tundra with snow even though it had still been summer in Italy.

"Why have you chosen this place?" Bella asked, stunned.

Anna shrugged.

"I guess I just liked the solitude of it. It's actually pretty nice. A hell to get electricity there though, and even worse to keep it up. But when you've bribed enough people over a long time they just accept the money without questions."

Bella kept staring out the window.

When we landed beside the huge house, Anna handed Bella a long, warm coat.

"I bet it's freezing with that jacket." She commented.

Bella accepted without a word. It was really cold, cold enough to see the condense from Bella's breath as we hurried to the house. I could almost hear her sigh of relief as we came into the warmth. She didn't seem too surprised with the size, but I didn't expect her to be. She'd been staying at our castle long enough for her to have gotten used to a labyrinth of halls and rooms, and in comparison this was small.

"This way." Anna said as she walked to show us the way to the rooms.

We walked up to the second floor, following a hall to its end.

"Here you go, Isabella." She said, opening a door to a large room with a huge bed, a sofa and a TV. "You'll find a bathroom with a bathtub and a shower through that door."

She pointed to a door on the wall to the left of us. Then she turned to me, grinning deviously.

"Caius, you just get one of the smaller rooms, you don't really have a need to sleep."

I opened my mouth to protest, wanting to use my status and reputation to get a good room, but when she turned out the door and pointed to the one across the hall I just nodded. I didn't need to sleep, and Anna had the entire world's entertainment in this house. A bedroom wasn't needed at all, and getting one so close to Bella would make sure I could be close by without necessarily having to be in the same room.

"You've been here before, Caius. So when Bella here is settled, you can show her where to get something to eat. I have some things to check up on."

She disappeared down the hall, so fast that I could see Bella's human senses hadn't even picked up on her leaving. She blinked a couple of times, her eyes folded over her chest.

"So." She said, looking down at her feet. "I'll just.."

"I think there are clothes in the closet for you. If I know Anna, she'd have taken care of that before we got her. You can take a shower and get dressed, and I'll show you around."

It came out more as an order than as a suggestion, but she didn't seem to mind. She just bit her lip slightly and nodded. I turned around as she started to move. My room was much smaller, with a single bed, a closet and the bathroom only had a shower, a sink and a mirror. Clearly meant for vampires. I took off my clothes, placing them in the hamper set out, and got in the shower. The water was warm in an instant. I let it wash over me for something that felt like an eternity.

There were so many things I wasn't prepared for. I had realized that. I wasn't ready to fight a war against my own brothers, I might hate them, but they were also the ones I had shared an existence with for so long. I was not ready for this human, she might be simple and frail, but she had changed something inside me, something that wouldn't change back on its own. I wondered if it would keep changing, until I would be this completely different person. Someone I wouldn't even recognize when looking in the mirror.

When I finally turned the water off, I walked out and wiped the condense off the bathroom mirror. My blond hair was hanging to my shoulders , with drops of water falling from the ends. My skin was almost see-through and looked withered, years of spending all my time inside had made it like this. Not that it was unattractive, no, I was aware that I was quite attractive, but close up, it didn't look like skin anymore. My red eyes seemed brighter than before, like the cloudy film that had seemed to also place itself over my eyes from the lack of sunlight already felt the benefits from living again.

Living.

It seemed like a wrong word. Too small, and yet too big for this existence. I couldn't really live. There wouldn't be heirs to my name, I would never grow old. And I wouldn't experience death without being torn apart, piece by piece. No. This wasn't living. But it seemed like I was on the right track. Perhaps my skin also would look better after some more time away from the Volturi.

I had started to towel-dry my hair when I heard the knock on the door. Wrapping my towel around my waist I walked over to open it. I could hear the heartbeats before I reached it, and for a moment I thought about dropping the towel to the floor. I shook my head, even thought it would give Bella a good look at what she hadn't seen yet, it would also seem desperate and childish. And it was my throne I had left in Volterra, not my dignity.

I opened the door, and I heard her heart almost skip a beat. I fought back the urge to smile. Yes, I definitely hadn't lost all my looks to the centuries of laziness inside the castle walls.

"Can I help you, Bella?" I asked.

"I just.." She swallowed. "I just wanted to know when you were ready to show me around."

She had put on a pair of jeans and an oversized knitted sweater. It was grey, and the wide neck left it hanging loose over her left shoulder, revealing a dark blue strap that had to be the strap to her bra. Her dark hair was still damp, and her cheeks still red. She looked nervous, like she wasn't sure where to look.

I had to have spent more time in the shower than I had realized, a human had managed to shower and get ready before me.

"Give me a couple of minutes." I answered, walking back into the bathroom.

I left her standing in the doorway, knowing that it would leave her confused and conflicted in what to do. She could either stay here or wait, since I hadn't told her to leave, or she could go back to her room. I could hear her heart beating harder, and I smiled to myself. I took a second towel, drying my hair, and walked back out into my room. She was still there. Her face deliciously red, her neck exposed, and the air around her pulsing with the beating of her heart.

I opened the closet, knowing that I the door would somewhat hide me from her view. I hesitated for all of a second before letting the towel drop to the floor. Her scent immediately strengthened, and I could hear her heart beat even faster and harder than before. I almost laughed to myself, loving the response I got from her.

She cleared her throat, but didn't say anything. I started to dress in human pace, listening intently for her heartbeats as I knew she could only see my feet. They didn't slow, and when I had finished putting on the last sock, I closed the closet and looked at her. She looked uncomfortable, her arms still crossed over her chest.

I brushed my damp hair back with my hand.

"Ready to go?"

Her face was red, the air heavy with the scent of her blood. There was also fear, and something else. Excitement? Lust? I pretended to not notice any of it as she nodded her head, turned and walked out the door. I followed, smiling to myself at her embarrassment. She could have walked out of the room though, and she had stayed of her own free will.

She suddenly stopped when she realized she didn't know the way, and waited for me to show the way. I walked by, reminding myself that I had to walk in human pace for her to keep up with me. We walked back down the stairs, and through the main hall and into a large room meant as a dining hall for Anna's human staff. A middle-aged woman with long, silver hair was fixing something on an information board on the far side of the room. Bella looked around, overwhelmed with the size of it.

"Are there this many humans working here?" She asked.

I shook my head.

"No. I have no idea why there's a room this size for her human workers. They might be two or three people." I nodded to the woman. "That's the cook. I bet you can ask her if there's anything you'd like to eat."

Bella seemed to think, and when the silver haired woman finally came over to talk to us, she had decided on pasta. Food she'd gotten used to in Italy. We sat down by one of the tables, and it seemed like Bella was still too embarrassed to start a conversation. The brave and confident girl she had shown me a couple of times seemed to have disappeared for the time being.

"How long will we stay here?" She suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

I shrugged.

"Some weeks at least. Perhaps a month or two. Long enough for my brothers to get over their first few attempts to retrieve you."

"Weeks?" She asked, wide-eyed. "Months?"

I knew she was thinking about the isolated location and the snow. But she had been just as alone in Volterra, and also she'd been forced to marry. This would be better, she would just have to wait it out.

"It's not that long, Bella. Just a small part of your life."

She was quiet again, and didn't open her mouth before she'd gotten her food and started to eat. I watched while she chewed and swallowed, realizing that I didn't remember how it had been to eat. How it had felt to eat instead of being driven by that insane need for blood. And from the description it was never the same hungry feeling. Just an incredible thirst that kept burning you up from the inside till you satisfied it with fresh blood.

She stopped eating all of a sudden.

"Will I still become a vampire?"

The words froze me in place.

"Do you still want to be a vampire?" I asked.

I had no idea if I would be able to give her a choice. She had freely said she'd rather become a vampire than die, and that was while she had to marry Marcus if she chose an eternal life. What if she had changed her mind? What if she'd gotten frightened by our chaotic world?

"I think so." She answered.

"Then you'll become a vampire." I shrugged as I answered. "We owe that to you, since you're a huge piece in the war against my brothers."

A flash of disappointment crossed her face as she looked back down to the plate in front of her, moving the food around. It was nearly empty. I hadn't wanted her to retreat into herself as soon as she left the castle. This was not the way it was supposed to be. She was trying her best to hide, even though there was no reason for her to hide anymore. Had I done something that would make her trust me less? Or was it simply too much stress for her to be able to cope with it?

I chose to believe the last explanation.

"Are you finished?"

"Yeah." she laughed nervously. "I don't think I'd be able to force down another bite."

I got an idea.

"Come on." I said, taking her by the hand and gently pulling her off the chair.

The summer here was short, and even though I would like for her to see the nights as bright as the days, I knew there were also other things that was at least as magnificent as the polar nights. I led her to the main hall.

"Wait here."

I rushed to her room, opening the closet to go through the things Anna had gotten for her. There was a black, woolen coat with a thick lining, and I hoped it would be enough. We wouldn't be gone too long, at least I hoped not.

She was there when I came back, and I handed her the coat and told her to put it on.

"Where are we going?"

I smiled.

"I am going to show you something beautiful."

I knew it was early in the season, barely September, but I still thought there was a chance. The air had been cold enough when we landed, and it was already darkening. Anna had said the winter was early this year, and from the hard snow on the ground it seemed to be right.

"Turn around."

I pulled her hood over her head, and before she had time to protest I lifted her off the ground, letting her hide her face in my jacket. I didn't need to tell her to hold on; she seemed to understand what was happening. I ran through the snow, and from the way Bella curled closer to me, I could tell that the cold wind was biting even through the jacket. But it would be worth it.

There was a large open space, sheltered from the wind, and I carefully set her down on the snow. Her snowshoes should keep her feet warm. She took a deep breath, releasing it in a gust. Her breath turned into condense, which seemed to sparkle in the light from the stars. There was no moon, which made me a little more hopeful.

"What am I looking for?" Bella asked.

She let her eyes travel over the snowy landscape, her cheeks turning red again, but this time from the cold.

"Just wait." I told her.

For some unexplainable reason I knew that it would happen tonight. We just had to wait. The sky was clear, and the only sounds were the quiet wind and Bella's heartbeats. Ice crystals was beginning to form in her hair from the condense of her breath, giving her an even more innocent look. I reached out, letting my fingers brush some of her hair back, revealing red ears from the cold.

She looked down, her eyelids fluttering. I leaned closer, loving the way her sweet smell was a contrast to the fresh winter air and the faint scent of saltwater that seemed to come in with the wind. Somehow she seemed even more alive surrounded by ice and snow. Her warmth seemed warmer, her velvety skin seemed softer, and her eyes sparkled with an intensity she hadn't had inside the walls of the Volterra castle.

She lifted her gaze to meet mine. She was close enough for me to feel her breath on my skin.

She gasped, and lifted her eyes to the sky above us. I looked up as well, knowing what I would see. The northern lights were dancing over the sky, green, red and blue rays of light moved around among the stars.

"Wow" she said, her eyes wide and her mouth open. Her head was tilted up, exposing the bare skin of her neck. "It's beautiful."

I took of my scarf, carefully wrapping it around the naked skin. She didn't even seem to notice. I looked at her eyes, sparkling with the reflection of the dancing lights.

"Yes." I said, smiling. "Beautiful."

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**Some of you wanted a chapter in Aro's view from when he wakes from the illusion Anna set him and Marcus in. I would love to write such a chapter, but the problem is that Aro would have too many thoughts I couldn't share with you before this story is done. Perhaps I'll write it and upload it after this story is complete, but for now, you'll have to do without. This story will be Caius POV only. But the ideas are welcome! And so are all the wonderful reviews. Thank you so much. Those are what keep me coming back to update the story. **

**J.**


	16. The fever

**A year late. And shorter than what I usually write. But if you still want me to see this through, allow me some time to get back to it. This chapter was written in one day, and might be edited sometime in the future, since I have tried to write it four times now. But for now I'll let it be. Caius, who is not the best nurse, and clearly thinks he's getting multiple personalities needs a push to get to the person I want him to be. Read, enjoy and review. Let me see if it is worth continuing.**

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Even in the presence of vampires mostly, fragile Isabella seemed to have caught the flu. The coughing upstairs sounded more like a terminal patients cough, than a teenage girl with pneumonia. Of course I should have forced her to put on some more clothes. Of course I should have seen to it that she would be warm when she had gotten back. But when we had returned, she had blushed, said goodnight, and walked back into her room. I had been stunned. I had expected something, though I was not entirely sure what. And I hated it when I didn't get what I expected.

It had been a week since our nighttime walk, and she had been in bed for almost all of it. Coughing and sleeping. The flu had opened her system to other infections, and as our, newly required, house doctor had diagnosed, given her pneumonia. I couldn't sit by her side as I had in Italy, she wasn't Bella when she was like this. She didn't even smell like herself. Besides, she slept almost all of the day, and I had more important things to look after. Like the war. Or planning to start a war.

My hope of getting to stay here as we planned had gone, since my brothers clearly did their best to get to our friends first, then find us later. Brilliant plan of course, shouldn't have expected less from my brothers, but it would force us out of hiding to prove that we still lived, and that we still would fight. No one would stand on the side of the weakest one. I would have to prove my worth, I would have to go out and show them that I wasn't afraid.

I cursed my damned brothers as I walked back and forth through the halls. Of course it all cooked down to their greed and infatuation with the poor girl. And of course she was just as much to blame, just for being so damned special. And what was it really? The fact that a malfunction in her brain made Aro unable to read her mind? Or the fact that her blood smelled just a little sweeter than the average persons blood? To the degree that one was scared of drinking her, taking the chance that one would never find such blood again?

She coughed again. Although she sounded better than a few days ago, it was still a wet, painful, drowning sound that gave the impression that her lungs were being forced out of her throat. I felt the anger flare again. Had I really saved her, made a complete fool of myself, just so she would die at the mercy of microscopic single-celled beings? Of course I knew that she wouldn't die. It would be easy to just go in and bite. I wouldn't even have to make an effort not to kill her in the process. Her blood stank of meds and bacteria, I had noticed that when I had gone up to try and coax her to eat some soup. Her usually floral smell had changed into something dying and rotten, almost making me turn around and flee. This was not my Bella.

"Why can't you just change her?" Anna's voice wasn't accusing, she seemed worried. "It's not like you to act like this."

I turned around to look at her. In the dim light, with a white dress on, her light skin and her blonde hair in a mess around her face she seemed more like a ghost than a vampire. I could smell that she'd been feeding recently, her red eyes even seemed to sparkle a little more than usual. Probably because I hadn't been smart enough to feed for days. The luxury of the Volturi castle provided food every day, even though it wasn't really a necessity.

"I don't really know that she would be grateful. She could survive this all on her own. With the antibiotics counted into the equation, she has a good chance of making it."

The excuse sounded weak even to my ears.

"Caius." Anna's voice was full of concern. I didn't really feel worthy of any concern at all. It made me feel even weaker.

"She has agreed to be turned. She has agreed to become one of us. She will be, as soon as you decide to turn her. I don't know if you have seen her earlier today, but her fever is coming down, and she is more awake than she was yesterday. It has been two weeks since you took her here, and I don't really know how long you plan on letting her live as a human, but it seems to me that she is too frail for this war in the condition she is now."

I opened my mouth to speak, but she cut me off.

"Your brothers have declared war on us. The Denali sisters have already been forced to flee, the Cullens seem to have dodged the radar for now, but who knows when they'll be discovered. Our allies are waiting for our signal, they seem to be thinking that you have changed your mind about fighting the power, and a few of them are seriously considering going back to your brothers. Some who even have valuable information."

She turned to go.

"I can't be expected to stand on your side when you're not even there yourself, Caius. I am not prepared to fight a war alone."

I knew she was right. Our allies were counting on me to make my move. The move that would include turning Bella into a vampire, to make my claim official. To snatch my brothers bride-to-be away from him and make her mine. I had already killed Dora. I had already fled the country, and hid out on an island of ice and wind, all I really needed to do now was to bite. Just one bite. Just enough to let my venom flow through her veins, hardening her, transforming her into something stronger. Into the being she surely was meant to be since the day she was born. It would be easy. Just bite her neck, lick the wound and leave her to change.

Was I getting cold feet? Would I be able to change her? Should I instead leave the task to Anna, who clearly seemed to have a better way with humans than I did? I didn't even get the time to truly consider the idea before I pushed the thought away again. I couldn't leave Isabella's change in the hands of someone else. My whole body shook with the idea. Mine. She was mine. No other poison would freeze her veins. No other teeth would puncture her skin. Mine.

Then why was I hesitating? I wasn't the one to delay things, usually I was pushing for things to change, never having the patience to wait for things to just happen. Still, I had no idea how to make this happen. Who was I to change something so pure, when I knew the result would force her to long for death and blood for the rest of her life? What would I change her into? Did I even know if she could survive the change? Would it all feel like a waste if she just stopped existing? Or worse, would my life fall apart when my reason to still exist suddenly disappeared? Would I go back to my brothers? Could I even go back there without having my head ripped off my body and burned?

If I could feel sick, I think that's what I would have felt. I hated the weakness that filled me whenever Bella was around. And I knew that weakness would last as long as her heart was beating. I hated her so intensely. And still I felt the need to protect her. Perhaps that was a part of her special ability. She had already had an entire coven jump at her wish. A vampire king wanted to marry her, another one had taken her away to keep her to himself. Perhaps her ability to control vampires would disappear as soon as she was one herself. Perhaps I could stand to not know what she was thinking and what she was feeling as soon as she wasn't depending on my protection. Perhaps this all was chemical or physical rather than actual feelings.

I would have to take the chance of changing her to find out. I would have to take the chance that she would still be Isabella, and not some constantly bloodthirsty newborn, who never remembered who they were before. But I still didn't think she would appreciate it if I just walked into her room and bit her without any warning. She might be a weak human, but she had grown her own free will in the time she had been a prisoner. She had learned to not fear death, and so she would not beg for her life. She would fight for it, at least winning some dignity if she lost the war. She had actually become stronger while I had become weaker.

There would be a war soon, and I needed both her and me to be as strong as we could be.

As I reluctantly walked towards Bella's room, I could hear that she had indeed become a little better over the last few days. Though painful and wet, the coughing at least didn't seem to last forever before she was able to catch a breath. It didn't reek as much of bacteria and sickness either, though the antibiotics had given the scent of her blood an unpleasant chemical smell. It wasn't half as tempting as it usually was. I stopped outside her door and knocked.

"Come in."

Her voice was hoarse and a little nasal. I braced myself before turning the knob, almost holding my breath as I walked in.

Inside the room the scent of fever meds and sweat lingered, even though it wasn't as strong and overshadowing it had been earlier. Her face was red, but her eyes looked more alert than when I had been to see her at her worst. The skin under her nose was raw and her lips were cracked, but it seemed to have begun healing. I felt puzzled, as I realized my eyes had lingered at her swollen lips, even though she clearly wouldn't be capable of such thoughts at this moment.

She didn't blush, and if she did, it was covered by the scent of meds, sweat and the already red face. She didn't really look thrilled to see me.

"Haven't seen you here in a couple of days. I thought you had evolved some sort of germophobia."

"Bacillophobia." I corrected. "And no, since those microbes have no way to attack me, why should I fear them?"

She sighed as her attempt to be funny had fallen flat. Again.

"I have had to do other things than babysitting you."

"I thought I didn't need a babysitter."

"Correct."

She scowled at me, and I knew I deserved it. I was surprised at my own anger and short temper. Hadn't I walked into the room with the intention to prepare her for turning into a vampire?

We were both silent for what seemed like minutes.

"Caius." She hesitated. There was clearly something on her mind. "How long do we have to stay here?"

I raised an eyebrow. Was there really a chance that this would be easier than I thought?

"I thought you were prepared to stay here for as long as needed?"

She sighed again.

"I'm not really a fan of cold weather."

She smiled apologetically. I sighed. It really was my fault that we still stayed here. This would only be temporarily, since my brothers had figured out where we were. It wasn't a fortress, it couldn't hold off attacks from the Volturi. Especially when we hadn't gotten _more_ allies during our stay here.

"Our plan was to start war as soon as you had turned into a vampire. That has been delayed." I shrugged. "Also, we were planning on working on a strategy while we stayed here, but somehow my brothers have decided to kill of our allies. At least the ones that won't swear allegiance to them again. So the best would be if we could get out to others."

She waited.

"I didn't want to bother you with politics while you were sick." Again. Lame excuse.

She actually laughed at it, and the mood in the room seemed to lighten.

"Yeah. Because you're just not a normal guy who can't handle a sick girl with a runny nose and greasy hair."

I had to smile.

"Actually. The thought of turning you now is rather repulsive. You reek."

She faked insulted.

"I do not reek. Perhaps the bacteria are messing with your olfactory senses."

"The bacteria are messing with something alright. But I don't think it's me."

She threw one of the many pillows at me. I caught it easily. It also had a stench of sickness and death. I wondered if Anna would have to disinfect the whole room after Bella left. Just to get it clean again.

"So when do I die?"

She had asked with a teasing tone in her voice, but somehow it stung. Die. She wouldn't really die, would she? Her heart would stop, but she would live again. But what if she didn't. If her heart stopped for real. I stopped that train of thoughts.

"When you are better. When the antibiotics are out of your system."

"That's three more days."

Her voice was neutral, and I couldn't interpret any feeling at all. Was she happy that the change would come soon? Or was she already mourning her life and heartbeats? Should I ask? I decided not to, since I didn't want to know if she had changed her mind and didn't want to become a vampire anymore. I didn't know if I could make her do something against her will anymore. Still. A part of me wanted her to change. Not just because I owed it to her. Not just because I didn't want to worry about her when the war finally started. Not because I longed to taste the sweetness of her blood as I bit into her skin. But because I couldn't see a future where I would let her out of my protection again. Even if that future came as a result of her aging and finally dying.

"That's when we'll do it then. Three more days. And not in this room please, I doubt the stench will ever go out of the walls. Anna might even have to get a flamethrower in here to get rid of it."

I caught the next pillow before it could hit me.

"Three days. Your room." Bella said, but this time with a smile. "Any other requests from the killer?"

"Wear something nice. And eat something sweet."

I licked my lips teasingly. I couldn't be sure, but I thought I could see the red getting a little stronger in her cheeks.

Three days. Was I getting nervous? Or could it be excitement? I wasn't sure, but at least there was a plan. And I would know soon enough. Know what hold she really had on me.

* * *

**Short chapter. But the next one is already in the planning stage. Next chapter there will be blood. And sex. And venom. ++ Finally I get to the part I long to write! Haha. **

**J.**


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